3 Tall Pines Farm turns hemp into THC products that are being sold across the state

On the counter in the shop at 3 Tall Pines Farm, there's a large plastic jar full of carefully wrapped joints. The back wall is lined with cartridges of vaping liquid in different flavors. Workers pack orders as the scent of cannabis hangs in the air. The farm's hemp plants are drying in the next room.

Wisconsin lawmakers recently unveiled a bipartisan bill to decriminalize marijuana statewide. The bill is not the first of its kind, but it benefits from the exceedingly rare support of some Republican politicians, setting it apart from the usual Democrat-led initiatives shunned by the Republican legislature.

Under this bill, possession of a personal-use amount of marijuana would be subjected to a fine of $100 for possessing 14 grams of marijuana or less. Municipalities would have some discretion, but they cannot enact a penalty lesser than $100 or greater than $250, or up to 40 hours of community service. Any amount greater than 14 grams could still be subjected to the current law.

'The mainstreaming of medical cannabis is going to depend a lot on state level industries’ ability to develop products that appeal to customer’s health needs,' UW professor says.

Recent studies on the use of medical cannabis provide differing evidence regarding the benefits or risks of the drug in medicinal treatments and applications.

The discussion surrounding cannabis is becoming more prevalent within the medical field as its use recreationally and medicinally increases nationwide. At the University of Wisconsin, experts are examining the history, potential advantages and potential downsides of using cannabis as a treatment in a variety of patients.

Wisconsin is set to become the first state to relinquish authority over its state hemp program to the federal U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The announced transition will occur on January 1st, 2022. Starting on that date, Wisconsin farmers and hemp processors will have to comply with the final rule on hemp released by USDA earlier this year.

When Wisconsin legalized hemp, sales of CBD products took off. Now there is a new hemp byproduct that is growing in popularity. It's called delta-8 THC. It's sold like CBD but its effects are similar to marijuana.

"Will it get you high? Basically, yes," said Rachel Cartwright, owner of CBD Therapeutics of Wisconsin.

You can get delta-8 in candies, oils and vapes, and sales are booming across Wisconsin.

"Three quarters of my telephone calls, do you sell delta-8? Do you sell delta-8?" said Dan Sebring, who owns The Real Milwaukee CBD.

But how is it legal? Well, it's complicated. In Wisconsin, hemp-derived products are legal as long as they contain less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC. Delta-8 THC is also found in hemp and is not explicitly prohibited.

While some Republican legislators won’t support cannabis legalization in Wisconsin, bills to further criminalize cannabis continue to be introduced. On Thursday, the GOP-majority Assembly Committee on Substance Abuse and Prevention held a hearing on a bill (AB-440) that would enhance felony penalties associated with butane hash oil and related products. Hash oil is a form of cannabis THC concentrate which can be vaporized or consumed in the form of edibles. These sorts of extracts have also been given the term “dabbing,” after a particular way of vaporizing the product.

A recent report about a sharp rise in Wisconsin’s alcohol sales got a lot of attention. But it didn’t answer the question of who was consuming all the beer, brandy and wine that’s leaving store shelves at a faster clip than it has since 1972.

It appears it might be mom and dad, along with grandpa and grandma, who are doing all the drinking. It's not young adults, at least not college students.

A new national report sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found "a substantial and significant drop" in current alcohol use among college students between 2019 and 2020.

The Monitoring the Future study, however, found marijuana use among college-age adults in 2020 across the nation was at a historic high not seen since the 1980s.

Several Wisconsin leaders announcing a bill to fully legalize cannabis in the state Tuesday.

The bill would make recreational use legal for adults, and would be taxed similar to how alcohol is taxed in the state.

The bill would also allow people to grow cannabis plants at home.

Madison senator Melissa Agard says legalization could bring the state $165 million a year or more in tax revenue.

"It is time for Wisconsin to do what we need to do to realize that prohibition has failed our state and it is past time to get this done for our community," Agard said.

This is her eighth time trying to pass legislation like this.

18 states have passed laws allowing full recreational use of cannabis.