![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1f4e3-1.png\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
A trio of Wisconsin lawmakers traveled across the state line to an Illinois cannabis store on Tuesday to announce the filing of new legislation to legalize marijuana for adults in their own state.<\/p>\n
The three Wisconsin Democrats\u2014Sen. Melissa Agard and Reps. David Bowen and Mark Spreitzer\u2014held the event outside a dispensary in South Beloit, Illinois, which sits on the border with Wisconsin. They were joined by Beloit City Council President Clinton Anderson (D).<\/p>\n
\u201cAll you have to do is look right that way and you\u2019ll see the state of Wisconsin,\u201d Agard said from the Sunnsyide cannabis shop\u2019s parking lot, gesturing north and describing her state as \u201can island of prohibition.\u201d She pointed out that a number of the vehicles in the parking lot had Wisconsin plates and shared that some of the store\u2019s employees were in fact Wisconsin residents.<\/p>\n
\nWisconsin is one of a shrinking number of states that have not yet legalized marijuana for either medical or adult use.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s past time to get this done for our communities,\u201d Agard said, noting that only a few years ago colleagues advised her to avoid the issue as a lawmaker. \u201cAs we stand here today, it\u2019s safe to say the landscape has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bill would legalize, tax and regulate sales of cannabis to adults 21 and older in Wisconsin, bringing the state in line with neighboring Illinois and Michigan, where cannabis is already legal. Adult residents could possess no more than two ounces of marijuana and grow up to six plants for personal use, while visitors from out of state could possess no more than one-quarter ounce.<\/p>\n
The plan also creates a path for medical marijuana patients to access cannabis products without having to pay tax. To qualify, individuals 18 and older would need to be diagnosed by a physician as having or undergoing a debilitating medical condition or treatment.<\/p>\n
Agard noted the measure would also provide a path to expungement for people with past cannabis convictions and allow people to petition a judge for resentencing. \u201cThere are dollars available for people of color and women to be able to access capital to enter the industry, and there is a social justice fund, as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThis is a positive, forward thinking plan that will bring money into the state of Wisconsin,\u201d the senator argued, adding that the policy change is projected \u201con the conservative side\u201d to bring the state $165 million in annual tax revenue. \u201cIt\u2019s time to support this industry and regulate it in an aggressive, pragmatic manner,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Agard said that she\u2019ll work in coming weeks to build support for the reform among her colleagues regardless of their party and will be actively looking to add co-sponsors to the bill. \u201cI\u2019m hoping every single one of those folks will look at this bill earnestly and in detail,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Sixty percent of the tax revenue would go to reinvest in communities that have been impacted by the drug war, Agard said. The ACLU also estimates that the state will save $44.3 million in taxpayer money each year simply by ending the criminalization of cannabis.<\/p>\n
![\"📣\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1f4e3.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-23.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/a>