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A Wisconsin senator who recently introduced a bill to legalize marijuana in the state<\/a> sent a letter to the leader of the U.S. Senate on Thursday, applauding his work to end federal cannabis prohibition.<\/p>\n State Sen. Melissa Agard (D) told U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that his\u00a0leadership on the issue is \u201cmoving our country forward and away from harmful cannabis laws of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the draft federal legalization bill that Schumer introduced last month<\/a> alongside Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is a \u201cthoughtful and comprehensive\u201d piece of legislation to that end.<\/p>\n\n \u201cHere in Wisconsin, I am proud to have introduced the first full legalization bill in our state\u2019s history back in 2013 when I was a member of the State Assembly,\u201d Agard said. \u201cI have introduced this bill every session since then and we continue to gather additional support each year.\u201d<\/p>\n She added that, this time around, her legalization bill\u2014which she announced at a press conference outside a marijuana dispesnary in neighboring Illinois\u2014already has \u201cmore cosponsors than in any previous session,\u201d and she\u2019s seeing \u201csupport grow around the state\u201d as advocates and local leaders push for reform.<\/p>\n \u201cI truly appreciate your efforts in the United States Senate to address this issue in a holistic manner rather than aiming for half measures or an incremental approach. Your efforts to reach out to colleagues on both sides of the aisle are to be commended as well. A policy that has so many wide reaching positive impacts should be bipartisan and celebrated as a win for our nation. Much like you, I am encouraging my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to sign on to the bill I authored here in Wisconsin.\u201d<\/p>\n Agard\u2019s 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 up to 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 \u2014 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 The measure would also provide a path to expungement for people with past cannabis convictions and allow people to petition a judge for resentencing.<\/p>\n Agard also wrote a new op-ed arguing for her bill.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most dangerous thing about cannabis in Wisconsin is that it is illegal,\u201d she said<\/a> in the piece\u00a0published in The Cap Times on Saturday. \u201cHowever, my colleagues across the aisle will tell a different story to legitimize their ill-informed opinions on cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo be blunt, it is past time Wisconsin legalizes cannabis and taxes it like we already do alcohol,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are losing business to our neighboring states who have already seen the light and legalized. We must begin to put our state on a path toward economic prosperity and building a 21st century farming industry. We must begin to right the wrongs of our state\u2019s egregious racial disparities.\u201d<\/p>\n Schumer\u2019s bill in Congress would free up states like Wisconsin to enact their own policies without federal interference by removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. It also contains a number of provisions aimed at promoting social equity in the industry and supporting small business participation.<\/p>\n \u201cI applaud our federal leader\u2019s support for reforming our national cannabis policies and for authoring this important legislation,\u201d Agard said in a statement about her letter to the majority leader. \u201cSenator Schumer has been steadfast in his efforts to end the federal prohibition of cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am hopeful that we will see a vote on [the bill] during this session of Congress, and I encourage our entire Wisconsin delegation to vote in support of the bill,\u201d she said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) is a supporter of legalization and complained in April that he was \u201ctired\u201d of hearing about sales figures from his neighbor\u2019s adult-use market, joking that Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) \u201cthanks me for <\/a>having Wisconsinites cross the border to buy marijuana.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Evers tried to legalize recreational and medical marijuana through his proposed state budget earlier this year<\/a>, but a GOP-led legislative committee\u00a0stripped the cannabis language from the legislation<\/a>\u00a0in May. Democrats\u00a0tried to add the provisions back<\/a>\u00a0through an amendment the next month, but Republicans blocked the move.<\/p>\n Republican lawmakers, for their part, have filed bills to more modestly decriminalize marijuana possession<\/a>\u00a0in the state, but none of those proposals advanced during this year\u2019s session.<\/p>\n Evers held a virtual town hall event in April where\u00a0he discussed his cannabis proposal<\/a>, emphasizing that polling demonstrates that Wisconsin residents back the policy change.<\/p>\n Locally, Wisconsin voters in three jurisdictions last year\u00a0approved non-binding advisory questions in favor of marijuana legalization<\/a>. Those moves came after Wisconsinites overwhelmingly embraced cannabis reform\u00a0by supporting more than a dozen similar measures across the state<\/a>\u00a0during the 2018 election.<\/p>\n Late last year, city officials in the state\u2019s capital, Madison, voted to remove most local penalties for cannabis possession and consumption,\u00a0effectively allowing use by adults 18 and older<\/a>.<\/p>\n Colorado Governor Gives South Park Creators Marijuana-Themed License Plates Honoring \u2018Tegridy\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Wisconsin Senator Behind New Marijuana Legalization Bill Applauds Schumer\u2019s Move To End Federal Prohibition<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A Wisconsin senator who recently introduced a bill to legalize marijuana in the state sent a letter to the leader of the U.S. Senate on Thursday, applauding his work to end federal cannabis prohibition. State Sen. Melissa Agard (D) told U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that his\u00a0leadership onContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":49449,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49450,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49448\/revisions\/49450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Wisconsin Senator Behind New Marijuana Legalization Bill Applauds Schumer\u2019s Move To End Federal Prohibition<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"