Tag: wisconsin

Wisconsin GOP Medical Marijuana Plan Raises Concerns About Cost, Patient Accessibility And Federal Conflict, Advocates Say

Wisconsin Assembly Republicans’ limited medical marijuana legalization proposal poses several concerns related to cost, accessibility and potential conflicts with the federal government that lawmakers should consider, policy experts told the Wisconsin Examiner.

The proposal by Assembly Republicans would create the Office of Medical Cannabis Regulation in the Department of Health Services. The office would maintain a registry of patients and caregivers who could purchase medical cannabis products from one of five state-run dispensaries. Access would be limited to patients with certain medical conditions, and available products would include oils, edibles and pills but exclude anything smokeable.

The bill has been received critically by Senate Republicans, who have brought up concerns about the state-run dispensaries and expansion of government that would result. Nevertheless, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) has said that the Assembly will move forward with the bill.

“I don’t really want to amend or to change a bill based on what somebody thinks…could happen,” Vos said last week during a press conference. “I’ve tried that before, usually unsuccessfully, which is why I want to get a bill through the Assembly where we can get the votes to be able to show that we support the concept and then let the Senate act as it will.”

Vos said the Assembly will likely vote on the bill in February.

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Wisconsin Republicans Unveil Plan To Legalize Non-Smokable Medical Marijuana With State-Run Dispensaries

Wisconsin Republicans have unveiled a plan to legalize non-smokable medical marijuana through state-run dispensaries staffed by government-employed pharmacists, with a limited set of conditions that could qualify patients for the program.

At a series of press conferences across the state on Monday, GOP state lawmakers detailed the much-anticipated legislation, which would make Wisconsin the “first state to have state-run dispensaries,” operated by the Department of Health Services (DHS).

As expected, the proposal would create a restrictive system that limits patients to smokeless cannabis options such as oils and gummies. People with qualifying conditions would be eligible to receive a doctor’s recommendation and access the products, which would be sold at five dispensaries across the state.

“We’ve come up with a program I think is going to be very beneficial to a lot of Wisconsinites,” Rep. Jon Plumer (R) said, while acknowledging that the state-controlled dispensaries component is a key area “where our program is different” than other medical marijuana states.

The qualifying conditions include cancer, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), glaucoma, severe chronic pain, muscle spasms, chronic nausea, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, Alzheimer’s disease and terminal illness with less than one year life expectancy.

While the dispensaries would be state-run, growers and processors would be independently operated if they obtain a permit from the state. The pharmacists who dispense the cannabis to patients would be “state employees,” Plumer said.

“We think we have a good program put together. It’s going to be probably modified over the years as we learn about it—as we realize we have changes we should probably make,” he said. “But I think we’re at a really strong starting point here.”

Rep. Tony Kurtz (R) said the proposal underscores how Republicans are “leading to have a great opportunity to introduce a much-needed program with medical cannabis with controls.”

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Bipartisan Wisconsin Lawmakers Officially Introduce Marijuana Decriminalization Bill

A bipartisan group of Wisconsin lawmakers have formally introduced a measure to decriminalize marijuana possession after previewing the proposal earlier this month. Sponsors hope the limited, noncommercial reform will win enough support to clear the state’s GOP-controlled legislature and become law in parallel with a separate limited medical cannabis bill that Republican leaders say will be filed in January.

Assembly Bill 861, introduced by Reps. Shae Sortwell (R), Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D) and Dave Considine (D), along with Sen. Lena Taylor (D), would remove the threat of jail time for simple possession of up to 14 grams of cannabis, replacing criminal charges with a $100 civil penalty.

Under current law, the offense is subject to a maximum $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.

People caught using or possessing marijuana would also not need to appear in court under change proposed in the bill. Instead, they could simply pay the $100 fine, which would be considered by the court as a plea of no contest.

The measure would also stop courts from “counting” possession convictions involving up to 28 grams of marijuana, meaning people would not be charged as repeat offenders for possession small amounts of cannabis. For larger amounts, the bill would reduce the imprisonment time for repeat convictions from three and a half years down to 90 days.

Possession of drug paraphernalia, meanwhile, would be punishable by a $10 civil forfeiture under the proposal—down from as much as $500 and 30 days in jail.

“For small, simple possessions of marijuana, Wisconsin should not be throwing people in prison,” sponsors said in a cosponsorship memo about a month ago, noting that the state makes an average of 15,485 arrests per year over the minor offense, which is currently punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.

In addition to decriminalizing possession, the bill would also make it so law enforcement would have additional flexibility in how they choose to handle individual cannabis cases. Police would have the choice of whether or not to book and process a person for possession, though they would still be required to collect certain personal information about them.

Another change in AB 861 would limit the liability of employers who choose not to test workers for THC, although that provision wouldn’t apply to positions overseen by the federal Department of Transportation or jobs involving safety and security.

The measure has been referred to the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety ahead of the start of the state’s legislative session next month.

“Employers across the country have been discontinuing the long-standing practice of drug testing their employees and prospective employees because it is costly,” the lawmakers said in the sponsorship memo. “Employers in Wisconsin should be given the tools to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to continue drug testing for employment purposes by limiting their liability.”

The sponsors also pointed to more than half a dozen other states that have enacted similar reforms.

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Wisconsin Governor Grants Dozens Of Marijuana Pardons As Advocates Pressure GOP Leaders To Advance Legalization

The governor of Wisconsin has granted another round of pardons, including dozens issued for people with prior marijuana convictions.

As Democratic lawmakers in the state continue to push for legalization amid opposition by GOP legislative leaders, Gov. Tony Evers (D) announced on Tuesday that he’s exercised his constitutional authority to provide relief to 82 more people, raising the total number of pardons under his administration to 1,111.

About one-third of the latest pardons were granted to people who had marijuana possession, cultivation or sales convictions on their records, with the majority of the cannabis cases related to simple possession. Another third of the overall grants of clemency went to people with other drug convictions.

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Bipartisan Wisconsin Lawmakers File Bill To Create Psilocybin Research Pilot Program For Military Veterans With PTSD

As marijuana reform continues to stagnate in the Wisconsin legislature, bipartisan and bicameral lawmakers have come together to introduce a new bill that would create a psilocybin research pilot program in the state.

Sens. Jesse James (R) and Dianne Hesselbein (D), as well as Reps. Nate Gustafson (R) and Clinton Anderson (D), are sponsoring the legislation, which would focus on exploring the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans.

The pilot program would be facilitated through the University of Wisconsin at Madison, which already operates a multidisciplinary psychedelics research division that launched in 2021.

Veterans who are 21 and older with diagnosed treatment-resistant PTSD would be eligible to participate in the program. Psilocybin would need to be provided through existing pathways under the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has designated the psychedelic as a “breakthrough therapy.”

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Confirmed: Man Who Raped His 10-Year-Old Daughter Housed With Female Prison Inmates

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections is housing a man who raped his own daughter in a women’s prison because he said he identifies as a woman himself—and the DOC is refusing to offer any kind of insight or explanation on the matter.

Mark Campbell is currently incarcerated in Taycheedah Correctional Institution, a women’s prison in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, inmate records show. He is a registered sex offender convicted of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

That child was his own 10-year-old daughter, court documents allege.

Born in 1971, Campbell is currently 52 years old, weighs 225 pounds, and stands at 5 feet 9 inches, according to the DOC inmate locator.

Under Campbell’s listed “sex,” the Wisconsin DOC states in bold, “FEMALE.” The department has not responded to many requests for comment from The Daily Signal.

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50% of trans-identifying biological males in Wisconsin prisons convicted of sex crimes

It has been revealed that half of the trans-identifying biological males currently serving out sentences in Wisconsin prisons have been convicted of at least one sex crime.

The statistic was uncovered by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project during its analysis of Wisconsin Department of Corrections data obtained via an April 2022 public records request.

According to the report, of the 161 trans-identifying biological males in prisons across the state, 81 have sex crimes on their record. 

There are a wide range of acts deemed sex crimes under Wisconsin law. They include adultery, incest, sexual exploitation of a child, forced viewing of a sexual act, rape, sexual intercourse without consent, sexual intercourse with a child, indecent behavior with a child, enticing a child, public fornication, and more.

The report did not divulge exactly which crimes the 81 inmates had been convicted of, though details of certain cases have been previously reported on.

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‘Dark day for students’: School board passes curriculum calling girls a ‘person with a vulva’

“This is a dark day for Wisconsin students, who will be taught a curriculum that reduces them down to their body parts,” Alexandra Schweitzer, president of No Left Turn In Education – Wisconsin, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “No teacher should refer to their female students as ‘students who will menstruate’ or to their male students as ‘penis owners.’ This is a wholly inappropriate use of classroom time that ought to be spent on educational fundamentals.”

Parents were sent a letter from the school district detailing the curriculum on Aug. 3. The district community had until Aug. 17 to provide feedback on the curriculum to the school board through a Google form.

The sixth grade lesson plan tells teachers to call women “a person with a vulva.” The students are taught how their family and peers may influence their “attitude” towards gender identity and gender expression.

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Candidate who railed against ‘dark money’ shown to be funded by ‘dark money’

A Democratic Wisconsin Senate candidate who has railed against “dark money” in politics is being supported by a left-wing dark money network, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show.

Mandela Barnes, whose top Senate primary opponents dropped out of the race in July, said in February “Dark money has no place in democracy” and pledges on his website “to stand up to the corrupting influence of dark money.” At the same time, Barnes was endorsed Monday by the Family Friendly Action PAC — which is dumping millions in his race to unseat Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and is largely funded by the dark money groups Sixteen Thirty Fund and America Votes, according to FEC filings.

Nonprofits with 501(c)(4) IRS exempt status are often referred to as “dark money” groups because they are under no legal obligation to disclose donors and can funnel unlimited sums to super PACs, according to OpenSecrets. Super PACs have to disclose their donors but can be “effectively dark money groups when the bulk of their funding cannot be traced back to the original donor,” according to OpenSecrets.

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