CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Recreational marijuana just isn’t going to happen in Wisconsin. It requires approval in both the state assembly and the state senate; both have heavy GOP majorities. The best Tony Evers can hope for is a medical marijuana bill. Even that faces some hurdles. Speaker Robin Vos and Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu both want strict controls. You won’t be able to claim you have a backache and get a marijuana prescription. Those who are skeptical of pot in general have seen that switch-a-roo before where a Dr. Feelgood sets up an 800 number and diagnoses thousands of patients over the phone. Our medical marijuana bill will look nothing like that.
But there is something curious thing happening with the language in this debate. Pot proponents are now describing Wisconsin as a “prohibition island”, as if we are out-of-step with neighboring states. Actually, they are newly minted purple haze states. Michigan legalized pot in 2018. Minnesota is allowing grow-your-own marijuana, and a bill for further decriminalization won’t come until this legislative session. Illinois only legalized recreational use last year, where it’s a cause-celeb for expunging the criminal records of real lawbreakers, not just users but those who’ve profited from dealing pot.
It is these other states that are moving in the wrong direction. If pot is such a huge part of your life that you must use it, then move there. I personally made the choice to live in Wisconsin; I have no interest in living in Michigan. I consider Illinois to be a cesspool. Why are we so quick to move our state in the wrong direction?
The final disingenuous argument about decriminalization is that we can tax it. Nothing is further from the truth. Illinois collected $1.5-billion in taxing marijuana.That sounds like a lot? It isn’t. It’s three-tenths-of-one-percent of the state’s budget. And nowhere is that money used to reduce spending. It’s used to spend more.
Wisconsin is taking the right approach. Medical only. And go slow. Or not at all.
Chris Conley
Comments