At a WisPolitics.com event, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said the Assembly bill's “challenge” is that many GOP senators reject state-run dispensaries. “It’s a nonstarter for a lot of our caucus members,” LeMassieu added. “Why would we let government grow?
Assembly Republicans' very restricted plan released last week would limit medicinal marijuana to seriously ill persons with chronic conditions like cancer and allow dispensation at five state-run outlets. No smoking marijuana.
LeMahieu said a new Department of Health Services medicinal marijuana branch “seems like overkill.” LeMahieu didn't rule out a deal to legalize medical marijuana. “I think there could be a way,” he remarked.
Before becoming law, the legislation must pass the Senate and Assembly and be approved by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Evers, like many Democrats, supports full legalization but stated this month he would support medicinal marijuana exclusively but not the Assembly's plan.
The Assembly plan would place Wisconsin's dispensaries in five areas, but the Department of Health Services would decide. Since Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan allow recreational marijuana, many Wisconsin citizens would be closer to a dispensary where they could buy whatever they wanted.
Last year, the Wisconsin Policy Forum projected that over half of Wisconsin citizens over 21 resided within 75 minutes of a legal dispensary in another state. That was before Minnesota legalized recreational marijuana.
The Assembly proposal would restrict marijuana use to people with cancer, HIV or AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, severe muscle spasms, chronic pain or nausea, and terminal illnesses with less than a year to live.
Wisconsin is a national outlier. Thirty-eight states allow medicinal marijuana and 24 allow recreational. Wisconsin's legalization campaign has grown as neighboring have relaxed their rules. For years, Marquette University Law School polls have indicated that most Wisconsinites support marijuana legalization.