SHARE

A bill to legalize the use of CBD oil extract, which has been shown effective in treating seizures, should be approved by the state Senate when it meets for the last time this session on Tuesday.

CBD is a byproduct of marijuana, a so-called cannabidiol. This isn't medical marijuana; it's extremely low in THC, the agent in marijuana that gives users a high.

In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would have to approve a research drug permit for a physician prescribing the substance. And the oil extract could only be dispensed by doctors and pharmacies approved by the state Controlled Substances Board.

Families of children who suffer from seizures have been especially eloquent in advocating for the measure.

In an op-ed published earlier this month, Amylynne Santiago Volker, who son, Nic, was the subject of the Journal Sentinel's Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles "One in a Billion" in 2010, said that her son needs this treatment. He has an intractable seizure disorder — a side effect of the treatment that saved his life. He averages 100 seizures a day.

"How do we tell Nic that it will take seven to 10 years for him to get the medicine that could stop his seizures? How do we explain to our 9-year-old son that he must continue taking the legal medicine that can cause liver and bone marrow failure?"

She shouldn't have to tell him. The Senate should approve Assembly Bill 726, and Gov. Scott Walker should sign it.

•••

Walker used his partial veto to improve a bill that will limit early voting in the state, but he should have vetoed the bill outright.

The bill, passed by Republicans who control both houses of the Legislature, will make for longer lines in Milwaukee and other cities. Walker used his veto powers to take out language restricting early voting hours in Milwaukee and other cities to 45 hours a week, but he left in place a prohibition on early voting on weekends.

Republicans have said the bill was designed to make early voting hours uniform statewide, but this was never about equity — not with a provision in existing state law that limits each municipality to a single site for early voting — no matter the size of the municipality.

"It may be Governor Walker's signature on the bill today, but this fight will end when a judge signs an order declaring this latest Republican attack on voting unconstitutional," said Scot Ross, executive director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now. The group should make good on its idea of suing.

Neil Albrecht, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, told reporters the law would cause longer lines in the city.

"I don't see the fairness in that, and I certainly don't see a level playing field between rural and urban communities," he said.

Neither do we. It was designed to tamp down votes in Democratic-leaning cities. It wasn't designed to be fair. The only recourse now may be in the courts.

•••

Congratulations to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, which has completed an emergency $5 million fundraising campaign that saved not only this season but possible other seasons as well. The orchestra did it with the help of 1,408 new individual donors. Individual donors gave more than $2.8 million of the total. The orchestra also got a hand from foundations, corporations and the United Performing Arts Fund. Thanks to everyone who donated so that one of the nation's best orchestras can continue to make music in Milwaukee.

•••

Once again, Wisconsin legislators showed a discouraging lack of spine in dealing with the state's notorious drinking culture. They will approve no new penalties for drunken drivers this session.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and the GOP caucus have decided not to take up drunken driving bills passed by the Assembly late last year. Fitzgerald said he would rather focus on treatment and diversion programs. We have no problem with such programs. But the state remains among the worst in the nation for drunken driving and binge drinking, and its laws are among the weakest.

Wisconsin remains the only state in the country in which certain first-offense drunken-driving charges are not a crime but a municipal violation.

To their credit, lawmakers did pass a bill to help counties expand programs to provide alternatives to jail time for convicted drunken drivers.

But the state still needs to get tougher on drunken drivers to send a message: Don't drink and drive in this state. So far, they haven't done that.