By Robert Burke

My name is Robert Burke and I am a Libertarian running for governor of Wisconsin. Our state and nation are at an inflection point of change, both social and economic, unrivaled in history. Wisconsin will need a leader for a 21st century economy, and I would like to share my vision for one small part. It's time for legalization of marijuana, and I'd like to share why.

In my youth, I worked as a certified nursing assistant in both a nursing home and a hospital. Our CNA's care in very intimate ways for the most vulnerable of our society. I remember caring for a doctor's wife with Alzheimer's. I remember meeting my first patient with Multiple Sclerosis and learning how it shuts down and wastes away the body. I remember meeting my 3-month-old niece as she had seizures every few minutes. I remember breaking down in tears in the hospital linen closet after floating to the Oncology department and meeting a mother and her children as she fought cervical cancer.

A study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease that shows significant hope in treating the disease with marijuana. A trial study led by Britain's Clinical Neurology Research Group shows marijuana extracts can be useful in easing pain and spasms in Multiple Sclerosis. Multiple studies confirm the marijuana extract CBD virtually stops seizures. A Harvard study shows that marijuana can cure cancer by sending very specific self-destruct signals exclusively to a cancer cell. On behalf of the people who suffer from all of these terrible conditions, we need to get out of the way of their medicine.

Many more conditions can be treated with marijuana, from depression and panic attacks to migraines, but I want to focus again on CNAs and other health care workers. In my experience, many of them use marijuana to relieve the stress of caring for these fragile, vulnerable, people. It's natural, non-addicting, and used by far more people than most realize. It's time to end the damage and begin a process of legalization for those in medical need, and those who provide their care. Full legalization is what I support, and these are the reasons why.

I will finish on the broader social benefits to legalization. When we give someone a criminal record for marijuana, we take away job and employment opportunities, giving them more time to sit at home and develop the drug habit prohibition is trying to deter. Worst of all, prohibition gives criminals control of the industry, and when someone is willing to break the law and sell marijuana, selling to our children is a small step. I don't care if an adult wants to smoke a joint and watch a movie; I'm trying to get it out of the hands of our children.

If you agree, then share this with friends and family. There are people hurting in our state and we need leadership from someone interested in healing all the problems prohibition creates. I'm Robert Burke; I'm a Libertarian, and on Nov. 4 if you want marijuana legalized, I'm the guy for the job.

Robert Burke of Hudson is the Libertarian candidate for governor of Wisconsin.