Wisconsin Republicans' Medical Marijuana plan gets lukewarm reception from Evers and lawmakers
Indiana Lawmakers Face Calls for Cannabis Legalization Amidst Surrounding State Developments.
Wisconsin Assembly Republicans’ highly restrictive plan to legalize medical marijuana in the state drew a lukewarm response from Senate Republicans and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Monday.
The bill would limit medical marijuana only to severely ill people with chronic diseases such as cancer and allow for it to be dispensed at only five state-run locations. Smokable marijuana would not be allowed.
The measure is far from the full legalization that Evers and Democrats have pushed unsuccessfully to pass for years. Evers said last week that he supports creating a medical marijuana program if that’s all that can be done now, but he was noncommittal on the proposal floated Monday.
Evers will review the idea, and “he looks forward to hearing from Wisconsinites and other stakeholders as the bill moves through the legislative process,” the governor’s spokesperson Britt Cudaback said.
The bill would have to clear the Assembly and Senate and be signed by Evers before it could take effect.
Last year, Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said a bill to create a medical marijuana program could pass this legislative session — as long as regulations are put forward to ensure that it would be limited to only those who are in serious pain.
But like Evers, LeMahieu was noncommittal Monday, saying the bill needed to be “thoroughly vetted before the Senate decides how to proceed.”
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein called the measure a “small step in the right direction,” but said she was concerned it was too restrictive.
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has said that the program detailed in the bill announced Monday was as far as Assembly Republicans could go. Republicans hold a 64-35 majority in the Assembly and a 22-11 advantage in the Senate.
“We want to make this available to people, but we want to have tight controls on it as well,” state Rep. Jon Plumer said at a news conference.
