Drew Kirsteatter (R) vs Kristina Shelton (D) for AD 90
The 90th Assembly District is in Brown County and is primarily in the City of Green Bay. (MAP)
Brown County 2018 Marijuana Referendum:
“Should cannabis be legalized in Wisconsin for medicinal purposes, and regulated in the same manner as other prescription drugs?”
- 76% YES
- 24% NO
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On September 15, 2020, WisconsinEye senior producer Steve Walters interviewed Drew Kirsteatter (R-Green Bay) who is running for the 90th Assembly District in the upcoming general election.
At the 7:20 mark Kirsteatter discussing marijuana reform for 40 seconds and says he open to medical marijuana because he thinks it has shown to be helpful and if heavily regulated it would be beneficial to a lot of people. On recreational side it is a conversation he would be open to but his natural predisposition is to say it is not something we need, just because it maybe better than alcohol or some other arguments does not necessarily mean it is a good thing. He closed the interview out by saying my mind can definitely be changed on it and I do not want to say I would never consider it (recreational marijuana).
We have had a few chats with his campaign about marijuana reform, in specific the right to grow your own medical marijuana or assign a caregiver to do so for you. He replied “as personal cultivation for medical I’m not sure where I stand on that, I think I’d need to know there was some kind of accountability in place“.
We followed up with the question of AB1004 and the 10 gram decriminalization bill and he replied “Yeah, I would support decriminalization of 10 grams or less and making it a fine“
VS
| 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.
The campaign of Kristina Shelton received an A+ rating from NORML.
Learn more about how to register to vote at https://norml.org/act/register-to-vote or MyVote.wi.gov
Learn more about requesting an absentee ballot / voting by mail at MyVote.Wi.Gov
