The Wisconsin Democratic legislator believes that the Republican Assembly leadership withheld a kratom legislation from consideration on the floor last week because of his amendment, which would have forced a medical marijuana vote. The move was made after the GOP speaker withdrew his own, limited cannabis legislation which a leading Republican senator had criticized as antifree market.
A new poll also shows that medical cannabis is supported by both Republicans and Democrats in Wisconsin. 86 percent are in favor of this reform, including 78 % of Republicans.
Rep. Darrin Madison (D), along with members of his caucus, devised the amendment plan ahead of the floor session on last Thursday. To demonstrate Democrats’ willingness for compromise, he and Rep. Sylvia Ortiz Velez (D) attached a comprehensive medical cannabis measure to a separate kratom legislation, defying GOP accusations that his party only wanted to legalize adult-use marijuana.
Madison told Marijuana Moment that he “totally believes” it is related to his cannabis-related amendment. The amendment sponsor claimed that the Republican Assembly Speaker, who had only hours before told reporters his own restrictive medical cannabis proposal for the session was dead, wanted to avoid a confrontation on the floor.
Madison believes that the speaker could have had a worse situation if the Democrat-led legislation was actually passed on the floor.
He said that “their version of the bill was not going through the Senate and mine had better potential than theirs.”
The Democrats’ amendment did not create a state-run system as the Speaker Robin Vos (R), bill required. This component was quickly dismissed by Republican Senate leaders, but Assembly sponsor said that he would not compromise.
Vos said that the GOP-controlled Senate preferred a “liberal” version of his bill, and so, instead, he will hold public hearings in order to gather support for his proposal as preparation for next session. In a recent interview, Senate Majority leader Devin LeMahieu disputed that description, saying that the state-run model of dispensaries was contrary to conservatives’ principles.
Why would we increase the size of the government? LeMahieu asked, “If it is a prescription drug, why do we have only five locations with state employees?” That was the main sticking point. “I don’t care if you call me a liberal or conservative. I would rather not have more government workers in the situation.”
When asked if he felt there was enough support in the Senate for the legalization of medical cannabis, the majority leader responded to WISN by saying “I believe we can get there. But not with state run dispensaries.”
We need to tighten up the guardrails in order to ensure that this drug is only prescribed for medical purposes. “But then I think that we could get up to 17 votes,” he said.
Madison said, on his part, that he knew “for sure” that there were people in the Republican caucus who had told him they would vote for a medical marijuana bill if it was passed. These conversations didn’t revolve around the particular amendment he proposed, but this theoretical commitment may have helped explain why the Speaker chose not to take up the unrelated measure that might have revealed a level of bipartisanship for something more than just the GOP’s standalone bill.
There’s a consensus among voters on the issue. A poll released by Marquette Law School this month found 86 percent of voters back medical cannabis legalization–including 95 percent of Democrats, 84 percent of independents and 78 percent of Republicans. A slightly smaller, but still significant majority (63%) of voters are in favor of legalizing marijuana for all purposes including recreational use.
Madison, who also sponsors a bill for adult-use legalization in conjunction with Sen. Melissa Agard, (D), in the opposing chamber, questioned the notion that the speaker’s restrictive medical marijuana legislation was presented in good faith. Vos, he claimed, “would have put it on the table and let it go to vote” if it was in good faith.
Madison stated that Vos is known for his ability to follow through on things he has introduced. Madison said that “his not allowing this bill to be brought to the floor is a sign that he does not have the votes.”
They know that [medical marijuana legalization] is a popular topic. He said that they know their members are in a difficult position because it is hard to align their vote with the will and wishes of the public. This posturing is part of political theater. Vos, in our opinion, tries to keep work off the floor. He prefers to make the decision before he steps on the floor.
“Our amendment was a hurdle that he didn’t know how to overcome. He said that he thought his amendment had a chance of passing both the Assembly as well as the Senate, because it puts people in a serious position. This also means that if the amendment had been brought to the floor [Vos] would not be able say that Democrats do not want to negotiate.”
The speaker has previously stated that Democrats view medical marijuana only as a step towards adult-use legalization. But some Democrats, such as Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, has disputed that argument. He insists that they are willing to implement a modest medical cannabis program even if more comprehensive reform is preferred.
The Assembly Democrats decided strategically to file an Amendment along with a more traditional medical marijuana proposal rather than forcing adult-use legalization, like Agard did last year with two amendments to Budget Bills.
It was a conversation with my colleagues. Madison explained that the main reason for this was to compare their light medical legalization legislation to ours. I’m in favor of legalizing medical marijuana, but I believe that a direct comparison to a medical legalization bill that is fair and equitable will put us in negotiating position to discuss medical cannabis.
It appears, however, that the discussion will not be taking place in the remaining days. Madison’s amendment to a bill unrelated to kratom regulation could be discussed on Tuesday. However, the sponsor is doubtful that the speaker would be willing to do so.
Marijuana Moment contacted Vos’s Office for comment but no representative was immediately available.
Agard has been a long-time advocate of legalization during her tenure. She slammed Republicans over what they described as a “smoke” and “mirrors” medical marijuana proposal. She argued that the announcement by Vos and his GOP colleague colleagues that they would not move forward with it highlighted how “unserious” Vos and their GOP colleagues were about addressing this matter.
The senator asked in an opinion piece for Marijuana Moment, “How many times do we have to see the same hoax by Republicans showing their interest in medical cannabis only to pull out the rug from those who desperately desire this policy to become law?”
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In the meantime, the governor said recently that Wisconsin has “lost out” to neighboring states that have implemented the reform because of the GOP’s inaction.
Evers said that it was time to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana in Wisconsin, just like we do for alcohol. In November, he granted another round pardons . This included dozens of people who had prior marijuana convictions.
Last November, the state Department of Revenue published a fiscal estimate of Agard’s legalization bill’s economic impact. The department projected that this reform would generate approximately $170 million in annual tax revenue.
A legislative analysis, requested by the leader of the minority, estimated that Wisconsin citizens spent more than $121,000,000 on cannabis alone in Illinois in the year 2022. This would have contributed $36,000,000 in tax revenue to Illinois.
The conservative legislature, however, has long been resistant to even small reforms – removing marijuana proposals from Governor’s budget requests.
In December, a group of bipartisan Wisconsin legislators introduced a bill to decriminalize the possession of marijuana. The sponsors hoped that the non-commercial, limited reform would win enough support in the state’s GOP controlled legislature to become law alongside the separate medical cannabis legislation.
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Photo by Philip Steffan.
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