The past year saw lots of talk about the status of marijuana in Wisconsin. But the closest we came to any action was Governor Tony Evers putting language in his budget that would have essentially legalized pot here — a non-starter for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester).
“I don’t want to legalize recreational marijuana, I want to allow for the limited use of medical marijuana to help people in pain and who are suffering,” said Vos, adding that Evers “poisoned the well,” by attempting to legalize cannabis via the state budget.
“Is medical marijuana the most important issue in the state of Wisconsin? For some people, yes,” Evers said. “But overall it’s not something most people are going to participate in. But why not let those people who are suffering have that opportunity.”
But a recently introduced Republican bill to allow that was shot down by Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau). “I don’t know why this is a good time to introduce legal marijuana in this state, I just don’t. It doesn’t make any sense to me.” Fitzgerald suggested that the state has enough challenges with opioid addiction and drunk driving, without injecting legal marijuana into the mix. He said there’s little support for among Senate Republicans, who hold a 19-14 majority in the chamber.
So it’s back to square one, even as neighboring Michigan and Illinois are implementing recreational marijuana.