Molly Beck
MADISON - Republican leaders of the state Legislature and the Democratic governor are again tackling the issue of marijuana legalization in the new legislative session but familiar divisions persist over an issue that has broad support in Wisconsin but not in the state Capitol.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said in a Sunday interview his caucus would be open to considering legislation this session from the state Assembly to create a medical marijuana program in Wisconsin if Assembly leaders removed their previously proposed idea of establishing state-run dispensaries. But as of December, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he still preferred the proposal.
The Senate leader's position is a starting point for renewed negotiations on the issue of legalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes that has run into roadblocks in previous sessions largely due to Senate Republicans' opposition to the idea.
"There are members of our caucus who are supportive of medical marijuana. The challenge of the bill that the assembly introduced last (session) was state-run dispensaries," LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said in an appearance on WISN's "UpFront" politics talk show. "Growing the size of government doesn't seem to be the best way to do it."
Wisconsin is among a shrinking minority of states that do not have a recreational or medical-use marijuana program. About half of states have legalized small amounts of marijuana for recreational use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, including neighboring Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan.
"I really hope that we see some real interest from our Republican colleagues in working on this issue," Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, a Democrat from Racine, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in December. "We know that both medical and recreational marijuana legalization are very popular."
The Marquette University Law School poll most recently asked about the subject in January last year and found 63% of respondents support legalizing marijuana. That level of support is similar to 2022 when Marquette asked the same question, but support reached as low as 42% in a 2014 poll.
In the January poll, 86% of those surveyed said medical marijuana should be legal in Wisconsin with a doctor's prescription. That's only the second time the question has been asked in the poll's history. In 2019, support for medical marijuana was at 83%.
A 2023 state analysis estimated Illinois collected $36 million in tax revenue from Wisconsin residents purchasing marijuana in the Land of Lincoln where cannabis is legal.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has included in three state budget proposals plans to legalize marijuana in Wisconsin, but Republican lawmakers who control the state Legislature have rejected the idea during the budget-writing process. LeMahieu said Sunday lawmakers would do the same while crafting the 2025-27 state budget by removing "all policy" from the budget proposal Evers gives them.
Vos said in December that he still prefers a medicinal marijuana model with state-run instead of private dispensaries — an idea that many Republicans dismissed last year — in order to avoid recreational legalization in Wisconsin.
"A red line for us is that we do not want, like it has in almost every other state, medical marijuana to lead to recreational marijuana," Vos said. "I think there is a legitimate, compassionate purpose for medicinal, I don't really see any reason for recreational."
A spokeswoman for Vos did not immediately react to LeMahieu's recent comments on the idea.
In December, Senate President Mary Felzkowski said there's "really one person that has seemed to be an obstacle to the medical marijuana bill passing" who "has some pretty strict ideas on how that bill should be drafted," referring to Vos.
Felzkowski, who has repeatedly proposed measures to legalize marijuana use for medicinal purposes, said "there were a lot of really good things" in the proposal from Vos and Assembly Republicans, but creating state-run dispensaries was a sticking point for Republicans in both chambers.
"We're hoping to have a conversation in early January to see if there isn't a way that we can come to a consensus between Assembly Republicans and Senate Republicans to negotiate a compromise, and maybe move a medical marijuana bill this session," Felzkowski said at the time.
But Vos told the Journal Sentinel he would "probably not" be willing to remove the state-run dispensaries idea from a future bill but is "open to listening" to other proposals that would still prevent opening the door to recreational marijuana.
Vos also told WISN-TV in December he may consider proposing legislation to an age restriction on legal THC products, including delta-8, that have similar effects as marijuana. In May, he told the Journal Sentinel he would support banning it altogether but did not expect Democrats to be on board.
Two Democrats told the Journal Sentinel they oppose banning delta-8 but raised concerns about the lack of oversight of the fast-growing industry. They noted hemp producers and processors are looking for the government to step up with regulations.
"(It's) not a very regulated industry. We don't really know what's in it, and that's not a good thing. So I hope that we are able to have a really rigorous conversation," Neubauer told the Journal Sentinel.
In his December interview with the Journal Sentinel, Vos said he hopes lawmakers can "at least try to find a consensus."
"This idea that you would have cannabis-infused drinks for sale in every convenience store and grocery stores across the state, I don't think that's right. But I certainly don't think it's right for kids," Vos said.
Hope Karnopp of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
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