GOP In Wisconsin Under Pressure To Legalize Weed As State Sen. Agard's New Petition Gains Traction

A top Wisconsin Democrat has been tireless in her efforts to legalize marijuana statewide.

State Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard (D-Madison) who once called Wisconsin an “island of prohibition” is now circulating an online petition to gather support for a public hearing on updated legislation to legalize recreational marijuana and establish a framework for regulated sales. Together with Rep. Darrin B. Madison, Agard unveiled the measure in September and has since taken it on tour.

With the petition, Agard is urging WIsconsites to put more pressure on Republican lawmakers.

“We know that cannabis legalization is a popular policy in Wisconsin, yet Republican Legislators in the Capitol refuse to even schedule a public hearing for my bill to #LegalizeIt,” the petition says. “Legislative Republicans cannot continue to ignore the will of the people and need to hear the voices of Wisconsinites!”

The petition leads to a constituent services page with Agard's materials on her legalization measure, an informative illustrated "zine" about marijuana reform and other resources to help people become acquainted with the proposal, Marijuana Moment’s Kyle Jaeger writes.

GOP Still Opposes Legal Weed

So far, Republicans have opposed the marijuana policy change. As for medical marijuana (MMJ) legalization, Wisconsin’s GOP legislators gathered this April to design a program that might stand 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 the plan is to introduce the MMJ measure this fall. Yet, in this session, there have been no GOP medical cannabis proposals.

Meanwhile, Agard’s Grass Routes Tour has been promoting marijuana legalization for months. She is finding that Wisconsinites are ready for cannabis reform, having seen neighboring Minnesota launch legal recreational marijuana this summer.

“Our farmers are ready. Communities that have been harmed by over-enforced drug policies are ready. Our Main Streets are ready,” the petition stipulates. “Wisconsin is ready to grow our future. We can do this folks – let’s legalize cannabis!”