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The governor of Wisconsin on Friday vetoed a bill that would have significantly ramped up criminal penalties for people who use butane or similar fuels to extract marijuana.<\/p>\n
Gov. Tony Evers (D) supports cannabis legalization, but the reform has faced strong resistance in the GOP-controlled legislature.<\/p>\n
Rather than move to end criminalization over marijuana, lawmakers delivered a bill to the governor\u2019s desk last week that would have made butane extraction of cannabis a Class E felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, rather than a Class I felony that carries a maximum three and a half year prison sentence.<\/p>\n
Evers shut down that legislation<\/a>\u00a0on Friday, saying in a veto message that \u201cmarijuana criminalization has had a disproportionate impact on communities of color, especially in Wisconsin where we have longstanding racial disparities in incarceration rates.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to creating additional criminal offenses or penalties related to marijuana use,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cThis bill represents a continuation of past policies and paradigms we know have had detrimental effects on people, families, and communities across our state while also creating a new sentencing disparity for marijuana resin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStates across our country\u2014both Democrat and Republican-controlled alike\u2014have and are taking meaningful steps to address increased incarceration rates and reduce racial disparities by investing in substance use treatment, community reentry programming, alternatives to incarceration, rehabilitation, and other data-driven, evidence-based practices we know are essential solutions to reforming our justice system. The data and science are clear on this issue, and I welcome the Legislature to start having meaningful conversations around justice reform in Wisconsin.\u201d<\/p>\n When the Senate voted to approve the cannabis extraction penalty enhancement bill last month, GOP members also rejected\u00a0an amendment to the measure that would have legalized adult-use cannabis.<\/p>\n There are some GOP Wisconsin lawmakers who are interested in pursuing more modest reform, however.<\/p>\n More than a dozen Republican Wisconsin lawmakers announced late last month that they are filing a bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n The Republican-led medical cannabis legislation is fairly restrictive, as it prohibits smokable marijuana products and doesn\u2019t allow patients to grow cannabis for personal use. Patients could only obtain cannabis preparations in the form of oils, pills, tinctures or topicals.<\/p>\n What it would do is allow doctors to issue medical cannabis recommendations to patients with one of eight conditions, including cancer, seizure disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and multiple sclerosis.<\/p>\n \u2014 \u201cMedicine is never one-size-fits-all, and it is time for Wisconsin to join the majority of the country in adding another option which may help patients find the relief they need,\u201d a co-sponsorship\u00a0memo for the bill says.<\/p>\n The memo also discusses how voters in multiple cities and counties across Wisconsin\u00a0have strongly approved local, non-binding ballot referendums<\/a>\u00a0expressing support for marijuana reform<\/a>\u00a0in recent years.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the only cannabis bill that\u2019s up for consideration in the Wisconsin legislature.<\/p>\n In November, a bipartisan pair of legislators introduced a bill to\u00a0decriminalize low-level marijuana possession<\/a>.\u00a0In August, three senators separately filed legislation to\u00a0legalize cannabis for adult use in the state<\/a>.<\/p>\n As it stands, marijuana possession is punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail for a first offense. People convicted of a subsequent offense would face a felony charge punishable by a maximum $10,000 fine and up to three and a half years in prison.<\/p>\n The governor tried to legalize recreational and medical marijuana\u00a0through his proposed state budget last year<\/a>, but a GOP-led legislative committee\u00a0stripped the cannabis language from the legislation<\/a>. Democrats\u00a0tried to add the provisions back<\/a>\u00a0through an amendment the next month, but Republicans blocked the move.<\/p>\n Other Republican lawmakers have\u00a0filed bills to more modestly decriminalize marijuana possession<\/a>\u00a0in the state, but none of those proposals advanced during last year\u2019s session.<\/p>\n Evers held a virtual town hall event last year where\u00a0he discussed his cannabis proposal<\/a>, emphasizing that polling demonstrates that Wisconsin residents back the policy change.<\/p>\n And in the interim as lawmakers pursue reform,\u00a0the governor has issued more than 300 pardons<\/a>\u00a0during his years in office, primarily to people convicted of non-violent marijuana or other drug offenses.<\/p>\n Read the governor\u2019s veto message<\/a> on the cannabis penalties bill below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Schumer Plans To File Marijuana Legalization Bill In April As Top House Lawmaker Details His Own Reform Plan<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Wisconsin Governor Vetoes GOP Bill To Increase Marijuana Extraction Penalties<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The governor of Wisconsin on Friday vetoed a bill that would have significantly ramped up criminal penalties for people who use butane or similar fuels to extract marijuana. Gov. Tony Evers (D) supports cannabis legalization, but the reform has faced strong resistance in the GOP-controlled legislature. Rather than move toContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":52719,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52718"}],"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=52718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52720,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52718\/revisions\/52720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Wisconsin Governor Vetoes GOP Bill To Increase Marijuana Extraction Penalties<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"