Wisconsin could 'potentially' legalize medical marijuana this session, top GOP senator says as Governor pushes for broader reform

Wisconsin’s top Republican Senator says that there is “potentially a” path to passing a medical marijuana law in the 2024 legislative session. But it would have to be strict and likely to face opposition from Democrats. This includes the Governor who has renewed his call for enacting a comprehensive legalization of recreational marijuana.

Senate Majority leader Devin LeMahieu, (R), was recently asked by WTAQ about a medical cannabis bill that has not yet been introduced. He said he is open to a reform that restricts access to marijuana to pills.

He stated.

Few details are known about the GOP proposal. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, had previously stated that it would be revealed and possibly enacted in this year. It is expected to be more restrictive than the Senate leader would like.

If doctors were to prescribe THC pills, they would be in violation of the new Georgia cannabis law . The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has warned Georgia pharmacists that they are prohibited from doing so.

The Democratic push to legalize adult-use cannabis is complicating efforts for building consensus around medical marijuana.

But that’s not the way Democrats see it. Melissa Agard, who will again be sponsoring comprehensive legislation this session has repeatedly pointed out that Republicans could have advanced their proposal at any time but so far they’ve refused to do so.

Agard, who has recently stepped down from her position as minority leader in order to run for Dane County Executive in the upcoming election, told Marijuana Moment Tuesday that she agreed with the recent remarks of the majority leader in that she has long held that “the devil lies in the details when it comes to all policy-making.”

However, actions are more powerful than words. “We have yet to see any actual legislation from his party this session that addresses marijuana legalization in Wisconsin”, the senator said, after urging the public to press their representatives to hold an hearing on her reform bill.

Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, has continued to advocate for legalization. He wrote on Monday that Wisconsin is “losing out” to neighboring states that have passed the reform because the GOP legislature was inactive.

Wisconsin loses out on its neighbors by not legalizing marijuana.

It’s time to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana in Wisconsin, just like we do for alcohol. https://t.co/CQPWpRbTpx

— Governor Tony Evers December 19, 2020 HTML0

Evers said that it was time to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana in Wisconsin, just like we do alcohol. He recently granted a new round of pardons which included dozens for people who had prior marijuana convictions last month.

“Nearly seven out of ten Wisconsinites support full legalization of marijuana in our state.” Agard stated that he agreed with Evers’ call for the legalization of recreational cannabis as well as medicinal cannabis. Being an island of promotion makes us less safe and prosperous.

In recent years, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota have all legalized this plant, while Wisconsin’s reform is stalled.

Last month, 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 over $121 million on marijuana in Illinois alone in the past year, contributing more than $36 million to tax revenue in the neighboring state.

The conservative legislature, however, has consistently resisted any reform, no matter how small. For example, removing marijuana proposals from Governor’s budget requests.

Bipartisan Wisconsin legislators recently said that they would soon introduce a bill decriminalizing low-level marijuana use within the state. They hope this incremental reform will help break the logjam in cannabis policy.

Separately bipartisan and bicameral Wisconsin legislators have also come together to introduce a law that would establish a pilot program for psilocybin in the state.