MADISON - The leader of the state Senate all but ruled out adopting medical marijuana legislation Friday, just hours after backers released their bill on the issue.
Supporters had hoped they could gain traction on the bill because of support from some Republicans who control the Legislature. But one of the Legislature's most powerful leaders quickly said he opposed the measure.
“Everyone knows that medical marijuana leads to legalized marijuana," said a statement from Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau. "We’ve already seen that some states with easier access to marijuana have seen an increase in emergency room visits and impaired driving accidents. I don’t support this plan and I think that it’s going to be a tough sell to a majority of my caucus.”
Fitzgerald — who announced Tuesday he is running to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner — has long been skeptical of medical marijuana. His comments on Friday were some of his strongest against the idea.
Republicans this spring rejected a part of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' budget that would have allowed medical marijuana. But supporters of the idea have expressed optimism because GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester announced in June he wanted to explore such legislation this fall.
Backers' enthusiasm was further buoyed Friday morning when Republican Sen. Patrick Testin of Stevens Point unveiled the bill with two Democrats.
Any momentum supporters gained was undercut hours later when Fitzgerald issued his statement.
Testin in a statement said marijuana had helped his grandfather, who had lost much of his vitality because of bone and lung cancer.
“I saw him make the decision to go outside the law to seek treatment with medical marijuana," Testin said. "It restored his appetite, and I believe it added months to his life. Doctors and patients, not government, should decide if cannabis is the right treatment.”
Testin, who is in his first term, was a lead sponsor of a 2017 law allowing hemp farming.
Releasing the medical marijuana bill with Testin were two Democrats who have long pushed for it — Sen. Jon Erpenbach of West Point and Rep. Chris Taylor of Madison.
Erpenbach said he hadn't gotten Republican co-sponsors in the past and he hoped Testin's support would help the bill advance in the Legislature.
"To have a Republican on the bill I think helps," Erpenbach said. "I've never viewed this as a partisan issue. I think there are Republicans who want to support it but haven't said it publicly or loudly. I hope more will sign on."
"I'm sure it's popular in his congressional district that he's running in," Erpenbach said of Fitzgerald. "This issue is a real libertarian thing, always has been."
The latest discussion about medical marijuana in Wisconsin comes after two neighboring states — Illinois and Michigan — legalized recreational marijuana. Minnesota allows the use of marijuana for medical reasons.
The Wisconsin bill is now being circulated among lawmakers to try to secure additional support. Fitzgerald's comments make it clear it will have difficulty getting a committee hearing and vote in the Senate once it is introduced.
The bill's prospects in the Assembly are better. Vos in June said he would "like to have at least a discussion about medical marijuana" this fall.
Vos opposes recreational marijuana and said Evers' plan for medical marijuana was rejected in the budget in part because Evers also included provisions that would have eliminated penalties for recreational marijuana.
In February, Vos said there was a 10% chance the Legislature would adopt a medical marijuana law. Fitzgerald in January cast doubt on the Senate approving such a proposal.
"I still don’t believe the support’s there within the Senate caucus to move in that direction, but I know that the debate's going on nationwide," he said then.
Fitzgerald has long been cooler to the idea than Vos. In 2017, Fitzgerald expressed surprise when Vos acknowledged his openness to medical marijuana.
"He said that?" an incredulous Fitzgerald asked reporters when they told him of Vos' comments.
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