Surrounded By Legal Weed, Wisconsin Democrats Urge Change – Why Spend Money In Other States?

Imagine living in a state where all forms of marijuana is illegal while being surrounded by states that have legalized the plant. Would you be traveling to neighboring states now and again?

This is the case of Wisconsin, which recently watched Minnesota launch legal recreational marijuana.

“Knowing that Wisconsinites are getting in their cars, taking time out of their lives to drive to these states and spending their hard-earned dollars in these states and invigorating a tax base and the economy in other communities — I know Wisconsinites would prefer to spend their money here,” said Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard (D) reported the Wisconsin State Journal.

Surrounded By Legal Marijuana 

Before Minnesota launched its first cannabis sales on tribal lands last week, Michigan was the first Midwestern state to legalize marijuana some five years ago. Since then the state has been improving its program; it recently abandoned pre-employment cannabis testing for some state jobs.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D) signed a cannabis legalization bill into law two years ago. The bill was then, and still is, lauded as the “most equity-centric” legalization effort in the nation. This July, the state set up a new record in cannabis sales topping $140 million, with Pritzker confirming legal weed created 30,000 jobs. 

Iowa legalized medical marijuana (MMJ) in 2017. By 2022 MMJ sales hit $10.2 million in aggregate across five dispensaries representing a huge increase from 2021.

For cannabis advocates in Wisconsin, this is frustrating.

Failed Attempts

In May, GOP lawmakers killed more than 500 proposals from Governor Tony Evers (D), including a cannabis legalization measure, proposals for paid family leave and funding to renovate the Milwaukee Brewers stadium.

For a long time, the majority of Republican lawmakers opposed legalizing adult-use cannabis, but this April they gathered to design a MMJ program that stands a chance of garnering bipartisan support.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) said at the time that the group of lawmakers working on the new push includes only Assembly Republicans and that the plan is to introduce the MMJ measure this fall, although the group remains firmly against legalizing recreational cannabis.

In this session, there haven’t been any GOP medical cannabis proposals.

“Nothing has come to fruition,” Agard said.

See Also: Wisconsin Senator Agard Says 'Republicans Are All Talk And No Action' On Medical Marijuana Reform

GOP Group Is Still Working On It

“The Assembly is crafting a proposal that we hope to bring forward this fall,” Vos stated Thursday.

According to Agard, the only reason cannabis is still illegal in Wisconsin is because of Republican gerrymandered maps, giving them an unfair majority and depriving the majority of state residents the right to decide. 

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Photo: Courtesy of CRYSTALWEED cannabis via Unsplash