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A top Republican Wisconsin lawmaker is pushing back against the idea that the conservative legislature is close to making a deal on medical marijuana legalization, and he\u2019s again warning the Democratic governor against calling for adult-use legalization as part of his forthcoming budget request.<\/p>\n
While Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R) said last week that his caucus is \u201cgetting pretty close\u201d on medical cannabis reform<\/a>, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a new interview published on Wednesday that that\u2019s not necessarily the case from his chamber\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n The speaker said that any attempt to legalize medical marijuana must be narrowly tailored for specific, seriously ill patients and not serve as a pathway to recreational legalization. Vos also reiterated that if Gov. Tony Evers (D) tries including recreational legalization in his budget, as he has pledged to do, that could \u201cpoison the well\u201d and upend bipartisan discussions about the more modest reform.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to make sure that, at least from my perspective, we are crystal clear this is not about a pathway toward recreational, it\u2019s not about creating a new industry with all kinds of new revenue for the state,\u201d Vos said. \u201cIt\u2019s about making sure that people who suffer with a chronic disease get relief in a way that helps their quality of life be better.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to do everything I can to make sure that it is helping the people who have a chronic disease, not creating a pathway or a gateway to recreational marijuana somewhere in the future,\u201d the speaker added<\/a>. \u201cI think\u2014I know our caucus would not support that. I don\u2019t think it\u2019d be good for the state.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 The governor said recently that he was encouraged by the Senate leader\u2019s remarks about nearing consensus on medical marijuana, and he\u2019s prepared to sign such legislation<\/a> as long as it\u2019s not \u201cflawed\u201d by including too many restrictions.<\/p>\n But while Evers has said that he\u2019s willing to compromise by advancing medical cannabis, even though he backs adult-use legalization, Vos said he feels that simply including the larger ask in a budget request could tank talks on the narrower reform.<\/p>\n The speaker said that lawmakers previously told the governor that \u201cif you keep saying this is about recreational marijuana, you\u2019re going to poison the well and make it really hard to get medical marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo my hope is he backs off that and doesn\u2019t include it in the state budget,\u201d Vos, who previously spoke about his interest in moving on a limited medical marijuana bill<\/a>, said. \u201cMaybe that\u2019ll be a sign that we can find a common consensus.\u201d<\/p>\n But Evers doesn\u2019t plan to back down from making the broader budget request.<\/p>\n \u201cGov. Evers is among the overwhelming majority of Wisconsinites who believe we should legalize and regulate marijuana, much like we do with alcohol,\u201d a spokesperson from his office said. \u201cThe governor ran for re-election\u2014and won\u2014promising to propose legalizing marijuana in his next budget, and he will keep the promise he made to the people of Wisconsin.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor, who stressed in his inaugural address last week<\/a>\u00a0that the state needs to have a \u201cmeaningful conversation about treating marijuana much like we do alcohol,\u201d\u00a0included adult-use and medical marijuana legalization in his 2021 budget<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0\u00a0decriminalization and medical cannabis in his 2019 proposal<\/a>, but the GOP-controlled legislature has consistently blocked the reforms.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in its budget request that was unveiled last month, the state Department of Revenue (DOR) called on the governor\u00a0to put legalization in his executive proposal<\/a>. The State Public Defender (SDP) is separately seeking decriminalization of cannabis possession.<\/p>\n Some state lawmakers have also filed bills to\u00a0legalize cannabis for adult use<\/a>\u2014and former Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke (R) has said legalization is\u00a0\u201clikely\u201d to happen at some point<\/a>\u2014but the legislature has so far failed to pass even more\u00a0modest proposals like decriminalization<\/a>\u00a0or the\u00a0legalization of medical cannabis<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ahead of the November election, Evers met with college students and\u00a0urged supporters to get engaged and vote<\/a>, in part to ensure that the state advances marijuana legalization.<\/p>\n If Democrats had won enough seats, it could have also set them up to\u00a0pass a resolution that the governor recently introduced<\/a>\u00a0to allow citizens to put initiatives on the ballot. Advocates expressed hope that the move could open the door to finally letting voters decide on marijuana legalization, but it\u2019s unlikely that GOP lawmakers will go along with it.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, voters across the state have been\u00a0making their voices heard on cannabis reform<\/a>\u00a0over the past several election cycles. Most recently, voters in three counties and five municipalities across the state\u00a0approved non-binding advisory questions<\/a>\u00a0on their local ballots in support of legalization.<\/p>\n The local votes are largely meant to serve a messaging purpose, providing lawmakers with a clear policy temperature-check among their constituents. But those that were approved will not change any laws by themselves.<\/p>\n A statewide poll released in August found that a solid 69 percent of registered voters in Wisconsin\u00a0believe that cannabis should be legal<\/a>. That includes 81 percent of Democrats, 75 percent of independents and 51 percent of Republicans.<\/p>\n Republicans filed a limited medical cannabis bill last year\u2014and it\u00a0got a hearing on the unofficial marijuana holiday 4\/20<\/a>, but that came too late in the legislative session for lawmakers to actually vote on the measure.<\/p>\n Other GOP members have\u00a0filed bills to more modestly decriminalize marijuana possession<\/a>\u00a0in the state, but none of those proposals advanced.<\/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 vetoed a GOP-led bill last year that would have\u00a0significantly ramped up criminal penalties<\/a>\u00a0for people who use butane or similar fuels to extract marijuana.<\/p>\n And in the interim as lawmakers pursue reform,\u00a0the governor has issued hundreds of pardons<\/a>\u00a0during his years in office, primarily to people convicted of non-violent marijuana or other drug offenses.<\/p>\n Kentucky Senate President Open To Medical Marijuana On A Limited Basis, With Restrictions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Top GOP Wisconsin Lawmaker Says Medical Marijuana Deal Isn\u2019t Close, Warning Governor Against Recreational Push<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A top Republican Wisconsin lawmaker is pushing back against the idea that the conservative legislature is close to making a deal on medical marijuana legalization, and he\u2019s again warning the Democratic governor against calling for adult-use legalization as part of his forthcoming budget request. While Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieuContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":60599,"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\/60598"}],"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=60598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60600,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60598\/revisions\/60600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Top GOP Wisconsin Lawmaker Says Medical Marijuana Deal Isn\u2019t Close, Warning Governor Against Recreational Push<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"