Kristina Shelton provided a statement regarding her campaign: “I am a Democrat running to restore representation to Wisconsin’s 90th Assembly, since the incumbent Democrat can no longer caucus with the party or serve on legislative committees. This is an important moment for a variety of reasons: we have a global pandemic and massive unemployment, and we need to ensure everyone has healthcare. We are on the cusp of commonsense solutions to reduce incarceration and to safely legalize cannabis use, and we cannot have a representative in the 90th who cannot do the actual work of legislation.“
Do you currently or have you previously held public office? (Required)*
Yes
If yes, please list your previous/current public office:
Vice President, Green Bay Area School Board of Education (current)
Over three dozen US states and territories, not including Wisconsin, are regulating marijuana for medical and/or adult-use, despite marijuana’s federal illegality. Ending federal prohibition would alleviate the tension between these states and the US government and allow states to set their own policies free from federal interference. Do you support or oppose ending the federal prohibition of marijuana?
Support
Please provide a position statement regarding legalizing the medical use of marijuana.
Recent medical studies have indicated that there are legitimate medical uses for marijuana. Unfortunately, the long-standing federal prohibition on marijuana means that medical research on marijuana could be much more advanced than it is now. For that reason alone, the federal government should eliminate this prohibition. But doing so would also allow states to clearly have the ability to set their own policies on medical marijuana, as they do with regulations around alcohol, for example.
Do you support or oppose decriminalizing the simple possession of marijuana?
Support
Please provide a position statement regarding decriminalizing the simple possession of marijuana.
Yes, I support decriminalization. As a society, we use too many resources–from policing to incarceration–to deal with the use of marijuana. We need to be able to repurpose those resources for education, housing, jobs, and anti-poverty initiatives. Plus, no one should get a long-term criminal record–with all of the baggage that comes with it–for simple possession.
The prohibition of marijuana allows for the disproportionate criminalization of black and brown Wisconsinites, despite similar rates of consumption across all races and ethnicities. The impacts of marijuana criminalization are far reaching and include long-lasting collateral consequences well beyond the criminal charge. Do you support the automatic expungement of non-violent marijuana possession convictions?
Yes
Please provide a position statement regarding automatic expungement of non-violent marijuana possession convictions.
Yes. I think the premise of this question states it well. Too many Wisconsinites–especially minorities–have criminal records, and this prevents them from getting good jobs and accessing other opportunities. We should expunge the records of those whose only crime is simple possession of marijuana.
Legalizing the responsible adult-use of marijuana provides states the opportunity to take marijuana off the street corner and place it behind an age-verified counter to better provide for consumer and public safety and prevent youth access. Taxing and regulating the adult-use of marijuana also provides economic stimulus through job creation and tax revenue. Do you support or oppose legalizing and regulating the responsible use of marijuana by adults?
Support
Please provide a position statement regarding legalizing and regulating the responsible use of marijuana by adults.
In Wisconsin, we will be facing a major budget shortfall in the next cycle. One way to help to alleviate this shortfall is to legalize and tax the use of marijuana, as we do with alcohol. Other states that have done this have found it to be a sizable revenue stream. Obviously, we will also need strong regulations to make sure that underage Wisconsinites cannot access it and to protect consumers. My view, however, is that legalizing and regulating is the best way to ensure that those who use marijuana do not end up in the legal system and to ensure that we keep it out of the hands of minors, who are unable to use it responsibly.
On July 9, 2020, WisconsinEye senior producer Steve Walters interviewed Kristina Shelton (D-Green Bay) who is running for the 90th Assembly District in the upcoming partisan primary election.
Shelton speaks about marijuana reform at 7:08 mark, we cued it up below and encourage you to watch her support legalization of cannabis.
Jay Selthofner, Founder and current Treasurer of Northern Wisconsin NORML, is a motivated citizen activist in Wisconsin. In the past he has also served as Executive Director of the chapter, and in 2010, he brought awareness to Wisconsin with his run for Wisconsin State Assembly on a platform of full legalization of Cannabis and Hemp for Medical, Industrial, and Recreational purposes. Through networking, communication and hard work he believes the reform of marijuana laws will progress quickly and we will be one step closer to global peace. Visit his website at <a href="http://www.jayselthofner.com/">http://www.JaySelthofner.com/</a>
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
