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A top Wisconsin Assembly lawmaker says that marijuana legalization is essentially an inevitability in the state where the Republican-dominated legislature has routinely blocked reform\u2014but that more limited medical cannabis legislation has a better shot of being enacted in the near term.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio on Monday, Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke (R) was prompted with new polling showing that bipartisan majorities favor ending cannabis criminalization<\/a> and asked whether the legislature might advance legalization.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an interesting question,\u201d Steineke said<\/a>. \u201cObviously other states throughout the country are moving in that direction. I think that\u2019s likely the direction at some point, with the state of Wisconsin, goes.\u201d<\/p>\n He caveated that he feels enacting medical cannabis legalization will be a \u201cmore likely\u201d possibility as an initial step. But while adult-use legalization \u201chas a much tougher path to get through the legislature actually [being] signed into law, I do think we\u2019re heading in that direction.\u201d<\/p>\n The challenge will be crafting the \u201cright legislation that is tight enough to pass something,\u201d he said, adding that he\u2019s \u201calways been a supporter\u201d of that approach.<\/p>\n The leader also took a question from a caller who expressed frustration that medical marijuana has not been made available for her father, who she\u2019s been caring for as he\u2019s suffered from Parkinson\u2019s disease. She wanted to know why lawmakers have failed to act.<\/p>\n Steineke said that the \u201creal issue is really the the ability of the legislature to craft a medicinal marijuana bill in a way that doesn\u2019t open up the door wide to recreational marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s the biggest concern amongst lawmakers and law enforcement general\u2014that it doesn\u2019t make a medicinal marijuana bill, doesn\u2019t become a de facto recreational marijuana bill,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the challenges that we\u2019ve faced over the years in trying to craft something that would help people like your dad without making it basically a recreational marijuana bill.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had some challenges trying to write language that\u2019s tightened up to keep it to the medicinal purposes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u2014 The poll referenced in the radio interview found that support for marijuana reform continues to grow in Wisconsin, with 61 percent of voters saying they favor legalization, compared to 31 percent who oppose the policy change.<\/p>\n But one of the most notable findings from the poll is that support for adult-use legalization among Republican voters has officially reached majority status, with 51 percent of those who identify as GOP backing the reform. That\u2019s an eight percentage point increase since the university conducted the first survey in 2013.<\/p>\n Despite the rising, bipartisan embrace for legalization in Wisconsin, the GOP-controlled legislature has yet to meet the moment, consistently blocking reform from advancing as the Democratic governor and lawmakers from his party have pushed for it. But there are signs of movement, including among Republican lawmakers.<\/p>\n More than a dozen Republican Wisconsin lawmakers announced in January that they were\u00a0filing a bill to legalize medical marijuana<\/a>\u00a0in the state, for example.<\/p>\n The Republican-led medical cannabis legislation is also 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 It does not appear that the measure, sponsored by Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R) and Rep. Patrick Snyder (R), contains equity provisions like expungements that are favored by progressives.<\/p>\n Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) has expressed support for medical cannabis reform, and the lead Senate sponsor said at a press conference in January that Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R) is \u201cmore than willing\u201d to hold a hearing on the proposal.<\/p>\n \u201cCurrently 36 other states, including our neighbors Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota, have passed laws allowing patients with certain medical conditions to access medical marijuana if their doctors recommend it,\u201d a co-sponsorship\u00a0memo that Felzkowski and Snyder sent to fellow legislators says. \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<\/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 Gov. Tony Evers (D) 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, but Republicans blocked the move.<\/p>\n The governor also recently vetoed a GOP-led bill that would have\u00a0significantly ramped up criminal penalties<\/a>\u00a0for people who use butane or similar fuels to extract marijuana.<\/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 Rhode Island Lawmakers File Psilocybin And Broader Drug Decriminalization Bills While Legal Marijuana Momentum Increases<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Top GOP Wisconsin Lawmaker Says Marijuana Legalization Will Come \u2018At Some Point\u2019 Despite Republican Resistance<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A top Wisconsin Assembly lawmaker says that marijuana legalization is essentially an inevitability in the state where the Republican-dominated legislature has routinely blocked reform\u2014but that more limited medical cannabis legislation has a better shot of being enacted in the near term. In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio on Monday,Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":53356,"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\/53355"}],"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=53355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53357,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53355\/revisions\/53357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Top GOP Wisconsin Lawmaker Says Marijuana Legalization Will Come \u2018At Some Point\u2019 Despite Republican Resistance<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"