Wisconsin, the land that gave us Paul Ryan, Scott Walker and former sheriff Richard Clarke malformed half-offerings from a higher power who ran out of copier toner and just gave upis lagging far behind other nearby states in getting right with marijuana reform. Instead of waiting on state lawmakers, a handful of Wisconsin cities are legalizing marijuana on their own.
Wisconsin and Cannabis Legalization
Like everywhere else in the U.S., a majority of the citizenry in Wisconsin favors legalizationand unlike nearby Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and even North Dakota,Packers fans dont enjoy so much as a workable medical marijuana system.
In Wisconsin, medical cannabis is limited to CBD oil only. There is a legalization bill in the state legislaturebut considering it would require cooperation and a signature from Walker, currently on a holy quest to force all of the states welfare recipients to submit to urinalysis, its safe to assume cannabis reform at the state level is still a few big steps away.
Absent state action, that leaves city governments free to change marijuana policy within municipal limits. So far, two Wisconsin cities are legalizing marijuana, including Madison, the state capital and home of the flagship University of Wisconsin campus. Now, deciders in Stevens Point, a college town of about 27,000 people in the middle of the state, plan to legalize marijuana within city limits.
Stevens Point is already one of the most progressive cities in the state on cannabis, decriminalizing possession of five grams or less in 2014. The city will now allow anyone 21and over to legally possess an ounce or less if a City Council proposal is approved. And unlike marijuana reform in many other places on earth, the citys police chief is on board.
As the Stevens Point Journal is reporting, City Council member Mary McComb is working with the activist who put together the decriminalization effortsa leukemia survivorand plans to draft the legalization proposal for introduction in October.
According to the paper, McComb thinks that people who consume cannabis should be treated the same way as people who consume alcohol. In my mind, its like punishing people for having a gin and tonic, she said.
She added: Were in a different world now. Lets get with the program.
The main driving force behind the legalization push is Ben Kollock, a local leukemia survivor who suffered through the disease without the benefits of medical marijuana. Doctors told him cannabis would have helped, but if he wanted any, hed be on his own and would risk criminal arrest and prosecution.
This is, of course, very stupid. Significantly, this is a revelation shared by local police Chief Michael Koval. Unlike his fellow leaders in law enforcement around America, whose chief targets for arrest are drug users, Koval said hed rather ...
