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Milwaukee County may hold recreational marijuana referendum

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A ballot question on recreational marijuana in Milwaukee County is a step closer, after the county board’s judiciary committee unanimously endorsed a referendum proposal on Thursday. Twenty-three people spoke in favor, only one against the proposal.

“I have severe nerve damage, and I can get all the morphine I want, but I can’t get cannabis,” one man told the committee. “I’m a felon because I grew 2 marijuana plants in my closet,” a woman told the panel.

County Supervisor John Weishan is proposing the referendum, to send a message to state lawmakers in Madison

The full county board will decide whether the advisory question will be put to voters in November. “What this is, is to create the momentum, so we get people in Madison to actually do their job, and so something for the state of Wis

County Supervisor John Weishan is proposing the referendum, to send a message to state lawmakers in Madison. “What this is, is to create the momentum, so we get people in Madison to actually do their job, and so something for the state of Wisconsin,” Weishan said.

Republican legislative leaders, along with Governor Scott Walker and Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, have said they oppose legalization.

Testin believes CBD issue will be resolved

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A Wisconsin legislator is confident farmers and processors will be able to go forward with their first industrial hemp crop since 1937.

State Senator Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) met with Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, state agriculture officials, and Rob Richard from Farm Bureau on Wednesday.  They discussed an enforcement memo from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which states that anyone possessing the hemp-derived CBD oil could be prosecuted.

Testin said they made their case as to why the production of CBD oil would be allowed under both the state’s industrial hemp law, and the 2014 federal Farm Bill.  He left the meeting confident that anyone who participates in the industrial hemp pilot program and produces CBD oil will be able to produce, market, and consume the extract.

“We have assurances from the Attorney General himself that this is going to be an issue that is addressed within the next day or so,” he said.

Brownfield 

 

DOJ memo puts Wisconsin hemp growers in limbo

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A hurdle for industrial hemp in Wisconsin. State Senator Pat Testin (R-Stevens Point), who wrote legislation enabling a pilot program for farmers in Wisconsin to plant hemp, said the response from farmers has been enthusiastic, with more that 350 applications filed.

That’s the good news. “The bad news is that a couple of days before the filing deadline, the state Department of Justice released a memo, stating that all CBD oil and all CBD products are illegal in the state of Wisconsin, even if those products are made from plants in the industrial hemp pilot program,” Testin said.

“This was a kick in the gut” for farmers, said Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation lobbyist Rob Richard. “This document has ramifications, both legal and financial, for a lot of people.”

Governor Scott Walker signed a legislation last year that allowed a pilot program for growing industrial hemp, and has said he’d like to see the issue resolved. “From the time this bill was introduced, we have been very transparent, and have had an open door policy with anyone who had any concerns with this,” said Testin, who has requested a face to face meeting with state Attorney General Brad Schimel.

Another successful Drug Take Back Day

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Saturday’s Drug Take Back Day is deemed a success. Law enforcement agencies around Wisconsin collected and turned in 61, 615 pounds of medications.

The prescriptions collected are transported in cardboard boxes and hauled to a location in Waukesha County where they’re weighed and sorted onto pallets.

The drugs will be trucked to Indiana, where they’ll be burned in an incinerator. Since 2015, the Wisconsin Department of Justice has overseen two drug take back days each year.

Saturday is Drug Take Back Day

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(Photo: Wisconsin DOJ)

Wisconsin residents are being asked to do their part in preventing misuse and abuse of prescription painkillers and other pharmaceuticals by taking their unwanted medications, both prescription and over the counter, to Drug Take Back Day locations on Saturday, April 28.

“In 2016, opioids killed 827 people in Wisconsin,” said Attorney General Schimel. “We know that more than two thirds of people who have abused prescription painkillers first got them illegally from a friend or family member. Every household in Wisconsin has the ability to help stop the opioid epidemic and save lives by storing prescription drugs securely and disposing of unused medication on Drug Take Back Day.”

Drug Take Back Day provides a safe, convenient and responsible means of disposal, while also educating the community about the potential abuse and consequences of improper storage and disposal of these medications. To find a Drug Take Back Location near you, go to: www.doseofrealitywi.gov/find-a-take-back-location/.

Measles exposure in La Crosse area

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Residents in La Crosse County and those who travelled through the area last week may have been exposed to the measles virus.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the La Crosse County Health Department put out an advisory that someone from Missouri who had measles stayed in an Onalaska hotel and made some stops in both La Crosse and Trempealeau County.

La Crosse County health department director Jen Rombalski says says anyone who’s not vaccinated against the measles and has been through the area needs to stay put in their home and call their doctor.  “Don’t go to the healthcare provider because we don’t want to have any additional spread of the disease, and you would need to find out what to do next from your healthcare provider.”

She says this just confirms exactly how important getting your vaccinations is. “By having folks that are vaccinated, it helps us not have to deal with cases like this. So this is just a good reminder that making sure you’re up to date on vaccinations doesn’t just help you and your family, it helps your community too.”

Rombalski says that measles is extremely contagious and that just being in the same building as someone who has the disease can spread it. Here is a list of dates and place that the victim in the case visited while contagious.

Comfort Inn: 1223 Crossing Meadows Dr, Onalaska   4/13/18 – 4/16/18

Dollar Tree: 2910 Market Place, Onalaska  4/14/18

St. Mary’s Catholic Church: 20344 W Ridge Ave, Galesville  4/15/18 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Champions Riverside Resort: W16751 Pow Wow Lane, Galesville   4/15/18 12:30pm – 5:00pm

Fairfield Inn: 434 3rd St S, La Crosse  4/15/18 6:30 pm – 12:00 midnight

Texas Roadhouse: 4310 WI-16, La Crosse  4/15/18 9:00pm – 11:15pm

Beedle’s Bar & Restaurant: W24966 State Rd 54/93 in Galesville, 4/13/18 7:30p-10:30p

Health care providers who come across a confirmed case of measles should isolate the patient and immediately report suspected cases to the local public health agency.

UnityPoint Health sends notice of possible information breach

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Around 16,000 patients are receiving notices that their personal and health information may have compromised in a cybersecurity attack on UnityPoint Health.

According to a public notice from UnityPoint Health – which has locations in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin – the phishing attack was discovered in February. UnityPoint officials say they took immediate action to secure email accounts affected by the breach, but impacted individuals should review their account statements for possible fraudulent activity.

You can learn if their emails were affected by the breach by calling UnityPoint Health at 855-331-3612.

Radio Iowa

Ryan calls entitlement reform next big challenge for Congress

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WRN photo

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville, who announced last week that he won’t seek reelection, says a lot has been accomplished in the past fifteen months, including the tax reform he says will reinvigorate the economy in next decade.

“Personal income tax revenues ride over the decade, corporate income tax revenues rise over the decade. Entitlement spending grows by $2 trillion dollars,” Ryan told members of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce meeting in Madison Friday.

Ryan said Congress missed its best chance at “entitlement” reform last year, when Obamacare repeal was defeated. “It failed by one vote in the Senate (Arizona Republican John McCain),” Ryan said. “That one move took the biggest opportunity we’ve ever had on fundamental entitlement reform, and killed it by one vote.”

Ryan said that a bipartisan commission will need address health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid. “We do not have support from the other party, and you cannot do something this big and this profound without some bipartisan buy-in.”

Ryan also said that the rewrite of the federal tax code is going to make the U.S. economy so much stronger. “The kind of economic growth we were trying to unleash with tax reform is exactly what’s happening,” he said.

Ryan also said he is not yet ready to make an endorsement in the 1st Congressional District. The GOP field so far includes Paul Nehlen, who holds white nationalist views and who Ryan trounced in the Republican primary two years ago. Asked about what’s next for him, Ryan said “I’ll figure that stuff out in 2019.”

Applications still open for industrial hemp program

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Farmers looking to add industrial hemp to their fields need to start doing their homework and talk with the state before they try to plant crops.

Wisconsin has started a program that allows for farmers to grow industrial hemp on a limited, pilot basis. Melody Walker with the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection says there’s a lot of planning that needs to be done first, and a lot of communication that needs to happen with state officials.

Farmers will need to take part in a application process with DATCP that includes a background check. “Farmers can’t have any drug-related convictions if they’re going to plant hemp,” says Walker. part of that registration will require telling the state exactly how much acreage they plan to grow.

Farmers also need to be sure they’ll have a buyer for their product that is inside state lines. Walker says that transport to producers outside of Wisconsin is still illegal. “Because it’s such a new crop to Wisconsin, we don’t have a lot of processing plants ready to take crops from people, so that is really an important piece if they plan to market the crop.”

Seeds for any hemp fields have to come from a list of certified vendors to ensure that the hemp that’s being grown isn’t going to be chemically active and classified as marijuana.

When it comes time to harvest, producers will need to get in touch with the state again so that experts can come out and test their crops to ensure that they have low enough levels of THC, the active chemical in hemp, to qualify as industrial hemp and not marijuana.

Farmers have until May 1 to sign up for the pilot program. You can find out more online at https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Programs_Services/IndustrialHemp.aspx.

 

Warnings issued after fake marijuana kills users in Illinois

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The Wisconsin Department of Health Services issuing warnings against using fake marijuana after users in Illinois have been sickened or killed by the drugs.

The state started investigating the case after Illinois officials reported 95 people who were suffering from severe bleeding after ingesting some of the drugs. Two people have died so far in Illinois.

The synthetic cannabinoids are often sold in novelty stores or convenience stores and can come in packages of dried plants or as liquids for e-smoking devices.

DHS chief medical officer Jon Meiman says officials have determined that a chemical used as rat poison has been found in the fake pot that’s been confiscated. “This chemical gets in the body, it stays in there for a long period of time and can cause some serious bleeding problems that require urgent treatment and treatment for weeks or even months.”

That’s one of the real dangers of taking these drugs, according to Meiman. “It’s not really one drug, it’s hundreds of different drugs and we don’t really know how they work. All of them can kind of work differently on the brain and their effects can really be unpredictable.”

Illinois law enforcement has made several arrests in the case, and are still working to determine just why and how the rat poison ended up in the drugs.

Call 911 or go to the emergency department right away if you or someone you know has a serious reaction to synthetic cannabinoids.