LEADERS FROM SEVERAL Wisconsin counties gathered together in Berlin at a recent meeting on July 27 for The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws regional chapter, Northern Wisconsin (NORML). The meeting held a joint purpose to celebrate the birthday of Ripon resident and the chapter’s secretary, Jessica, as well as discuss NORML business. To find out more about the the group, please visit www.NorthernWINORML.org or attend a weekly meeting held at the Berlin Public Library.
Printed in the Berlin Journal and affiliate newspapers on Thursday, August 5th, 2010. Volume 31
Where: Iowa County Wisconsin Courthouse, 222 W Chapel St, Dodgeville, WI 53533
On Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011, Dana Beal of Cures Not Wars is facing sentencing for serious cannabis charges at the Iowa County Courthouse in Dodgeville WI at 1pm. Dana is a longtime activist who hails from New York City but has long ties to Wisconsin.
Please join Dana’s friends and supporters 1pm Tuesday at the courthouse in Dodgeville, which is about 45 miles from downtown Madison. All supporters are welcome but medical cannabis patients and supporters are particularly urged to attend to draw attention to Dana’s longstanding activist efforts in support of legalizing this medicine.
The evening before, Dana’s friends will be sharing information on two of Dana’s major lifetime causes, medical cannabis and ibogaine as a treatment for addiction at the Madison NORML Drug Conference.
With millions of Americans already legally using medical cannabis in the now 16 states and Washington DC where it is legal, it is a topic of great interest in Wisconsin. Rising rates of heroin and opiate addiction have pushed treatment options to the brink. Ibogaine offers a natural means to help cure addictions.
Please show your support for Northern Wisconsin NORML and come march with us in the June Dairy Days Parade in Markesan, Wisconsin!
NORML will have an entry in the parade that consists of members and supporters marching, carrying signs/banners, wearing hemp cannabis related shirts and gear.
We are planning on having three large banners focusing on the past, presentand future of hemp cannabis, plus a variety of others.
FREE Necklaces to those who march!
The parade route has locations where the entry and organization will be recognized by a brief description.
Line up / start up is at 5:30pm on the corner of Bridge and Charles St in Markesan. The parade begins then nds at 7pm and lasts approximately 1 1/2 hours depending on number of participants.
Please show your support for Northern Wisconsin NORML and come march with us in the June Dairy Days Parade in Markesan, Wisconsin!
You may just show up at the parade site if you want, otherwise contact our organization to find out more details. We as a group may meet earlier at the June Dairy Days and eat together before the parade.
Contact Jay at 920-410-2920 or via email at jay@northernwinorml.org
For the safety of our participants and our meeting facility, we request that you do not bring any illegal possessions or contraband of any type to meetings and events.
The devil came up to Michigan,
he was looking for a grow to deal;
he was out of kind, sick of snorting lines
and was jonesing to make a deal.
When he came across this little man
growing dank bud smelling up a country block
and the devil jumped up on a Cannabis stump and said,
“so you wanna burn one or not?”
“Bet you already knew it,
I’m a Cannabis Connoisseur too;
don’t be scared, I’ll be fair
I have a bet for you.
Now you grow pretty big plants, there boy,
willing to give the devil his due?
I’ll bet my seeds of gold
against your grow
that I’ll smoke more doob than you.”
The man said, “My name’s Chosen
my medical grow ain’t no sin,
you will regret your foolish bet
my grow’ll make your soul spin”.
Chosen One resin up your nugs and grow those calyxes hard,
hells now come to Michigan and the devil’s cola grows yards;
and if you win you get hells Cannabis seeds made of gold;
should you lose the devil gets your grow.
The devil pulled out his seeds and roared, “You better look out below!”
and thc dripped from his seeds as he displayed his blinding light grow.
Stems and leaves grew instantly filled with nutrients that couldn’t miss;
then buds scarier than demons grew out and appeared to all like this.
The devil finished then Chosen said, “I smoked all your buds for fun,
better clear your lungs with air my friend,
here comes bud from the Chosen One!”
Fire from the HEAVENS, one seed comes.
The devil sees it glowing hotter than the sun.
Miraculously potent growing beyond all known.
One hit the devil hacked pleading “No more, no!”
The devil was amazed at this new brand of Cannabis reef,
he laid his plants down along with his bag of golden seeds.
Chosen One said,”See me anytime if you ever want to get that high again,
I grow HEAVENS best I can tell you’re messed you lost your devils grin!”
Fire from the HEAVENS, one seed comes.
The devil sees it glowing hotter than the sun.
Miraculously potent growing beyond all known.
One hit the devil hacked pleading “No more, no!”
Read more poetry from Randall at www.randallprazuch.com
When you have the votes, you have the votes and that is what happened in the City of La Crosse in 2011 and again in 2020 as the city council lowered the fine to cannabis possession to $1 and raised the amount of possession from 7 grams to 25 grams.
All involved hoped the latest attempt some 10 years later would be met with high support, especially since the 2018 La Crosse County Marijuana Referendum calling for marijuana to be regulated like alcohol passed by 63%, but nope, prohibitionist and haters are ever and always present……city officials attempted to refer the resolution for 30 days and then table the matter for a full calendar year, in order to find out more information, but it ultimately passed with a 9 to 3 vote.
This type of reform has been successful in many areas of the state and country. More locally, some municipalities and counties have used the similar tactic of “make marijuana reform the lowest priority for law enforcement”. This may need to be the route the local activists need to pursue was the police present had some very discouraging statements during the process.
Here is the news report from the statements from local leaders on the topic.
Cannabis reform approved
City of La Crosse
The city also approved an ordinance change at the Thursday night council meeting that reduces the fine for possession of small amounts of cannabis, or marijuana, within city limits.
The fine for possessing 25 grams or less of the substance will now be just $1.
Shawn Kudron, La Crosse Police Chief
La Crosse Chief of Police Shawn Kudron told the council he opposed the change, stating that it sends the wrong message that cannabis is legal, and that police will send related charges through La Crosse County circuit court, where city ordinances may be null and void.
What the city is doing today, is only sending a false message in that marijuana is illegal in the state of Wisconsin. There is no legal marijuana in the state of Wisconsin. There is no legal marijuana in the city of La Crosse,” said assistant police chief Robert Abraham.
“Do not be surprised if not a single officer writes a single $1 citation,” Abraham continued. “The attempt you’re trying to make here politically, I think is going to backfire.”
The resolution was put forth and sponsored by council member Roger Christians, who has noted in the past that he supports the measures because of the medicinal benefits cannabis has His wife and several of his friends suffer from chronic pain.
“I consider this minor. I consider the traffic in this town a problem, I consider the fireworks that went off for a month a problem,” council member Gary Padesky said in response to police opposition.
“I don’t consider a 69-year-old hippie having a joint in his backyard because he has knee pains from maybe being a Vietnam vet a problem,” Padesky said.
“I’m not happy that [the police] are basically telling us, screw you, we’re going to go to the county level,” he added.
City officials attempted to refer the resolution for 30 days and then table the matter for a full calendar year, in order to find out more information, but it ultimately passed with a 9 to 3 vote.
For those that do not know what WJI means or is, here is a quick overview:
The mission of the Wisconsin Justice Initiative is to advocate for progressive change in the Wisconsin justice system by educating the public about its real-life impacts and partnering with other organizations to achieve more just outcomes. The organization has the following priorities:
Ensuring that municipal court defendants are treated fairly and that judges adhere to the law in considering poverty at sentencing
Educating the public about Marsy’s Law and opposing its inclusion in the State Constitution
Legalizing medical and recreational cannabis
Eliminating life-without-parole sentences for juveniles
Eliminating the felony bail jumping charge
On May 8th, 2020, the WJI and ACLU of Wisconsin issued a letter asking Milwaukee City Attorney Tearman Spencer to end city prosecutions of marijuana cases. Read the letter here.
WJI – Wisconsin Justice Initiative
In addition, early in April 2020, National NORML and chapters released a memo for use with state lawmakers, cannabis regulators, prosecutors, and other interested parties to provide an easy and simple list of recommendations of how to quickly evolve marijuana policies around the country in the ongoing effort to mitigate the spread and destruction of COVID-19.
In efforts to help our states largest city advance reform, please sign the petition below and become active today by joining or supporting NORML in Wisconsin with a donation.
Day Four of Wisconsin NORML Social Media Storm is Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. Robin Vos is one of the biggest road blocks to cannabis reform. He has stated willingness on medical cannabis reform, but hides behind his party and his stance against recreational legalization.
Please use professional language, take screenshots of your posts! Happy Storming!
Robin Vos said he is open to legalizing medical cannabis but he doesn’t want that to “lead us down a slippery slope where there’s pot on every corner.”
Some could argue it is already on every corner. Wisconsin needs to legalize and properly regulate a market that already saturated our culture.
Vos said of Governor Evers’ budget, “It makes it easier to get recreational marijuana and provides a pathway to full legalization, which I do not support. I’m open to medical marijuana when it’s prescribed by a doctor but it has to be done in a targeted way without allowing recreational use.”
When it comes to Robin Vos, money talks, and we want to play to the tax revenue recreational cannabis sales could bring to Wisconsin. Let’s talk to Representative Vos about his tax and funding belief and how much money can be created to solve his problems without hurting his bottom line. Which is what he really cares about.
Here are some examples of Vos’ tax and governmental finance views.
Vos is suggesting cutting funds available for priorities like education, health care and roads instead of closing a tax loophole exploited by the wealthiest Wisconsinites, according to media reports. Vos has previously said he opposes any changes to a state tax loophole for owners of manufacturing businesses, while tax records obtained by One Wisconsin Now show Robin J. Vos Enterprises reported $0 net state tax liability for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. https://onewisconsinnow.org/…/robin-boss-vos-to-wisconsin-…/
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