According to the Assembly’s top Republican, a Wisconsin GOP-led bill legalizing medical marijuana is dead for this session. The proposal was unveiled for the first time only last month.
Wisconsin Democratic legislators are also seeking to add a separate and broader medical marijuana legalization amendment to the kratom regulation bill, which is set to be debated on the Assembly floor.
The Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R., said that when it comes to the Republican marijuana bill that is more limited, the GOP-controlled Senate wants a “more liberal version than what we are willing to pass.” This “probably does not leave us enough with the waning hours of the session to advance the Bill that he promoted for months in his Chamber.”
Vos confirmed that there would be public hearings about the proposed legislation, which proposes a strict limited program allowing select patients to have access to non-smoking cannabis products in state-run dispensaries. However, this won’t take place until next week after the Assembly adjourns.
He told a Thursday press conference that “unfortunately, people have expressed their concerns from the beginning that this could lead to recreational marijuana being widely available.” “And many of the people on the other side still say that this is their goal. Of course, it’s their right.”
The measure has been controversial on both sides, and among advocacy organizations who have voiced concerns over issues like patient access and affordability.
Vos confirmed that , he would not amend the bill to address the concerns of the Senate Republican leaders.
Democrats have also continued to push for the full legalization of adult use. Governors, among others, have pushed for full adult-use legalization. Tony Evers (D) indicated that they may be willing to advance medical marijuana legislation during the interim. However, the Assembly bill’s strict restrictions have called into question that tentative support.
On Thursday, Reps. Darrin Madison (D), and Sylvia Ortiz Velez (D), filed a medical cannabis amendment that was unrelated to a kratom legislation. It’s expected that the bill will be discussed on the floor soon.
Madison, along with Sen. Melissa Agard(D), introduced a bill to legalize adult use in the Assembly last September.
His medical marijuana bill would be a much more comprehensive program than the GOP Assembly legislation. And while it seems unlikely that the tactic of proposing it as part of the kratom bill in the Republican-controlled body will be successful–it could put members on the record and force a discussion of an issue that rarely occurs in the conservative legislature.
Agard used a similar strategy last year. He introduced two amendments that would have allowed marijuana to be legalized and, by doing so, forced a vote in which all Republican members were against it.
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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 – stripping out 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 Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
The post Top Republican Wisconsin Lawmaker Says Limited Marijuana Bill Is Dead For The Year As Democrats Plan to Force Vote on Competing Proposal first appeared on Marijuana moment.
