Cannabis | Drug Reform

LRB-0435 Talking Points

ByNorthernWINORML.org 02/09/202111/16/2021

LRB-0435 is a good first step. It is Republican led and seems vetted by the GOP caucus, which must indicate caucus support for this measure; the bill should receive a public hearing.
This bill will save taxpayer resources.
It creates a non misdemeanor/ non felony option at the state level.
It creates uniformity which will bring police and district attorney support.
It makes the maximum fine $100 locally in all of the municipalities.
This new $100 fine is far lower than most local ordinance fine amounts are currently set at. If the state does not make municipalities comply with the $100, local ordinances could stay substantially higher.
If a medical marijuana law is established that does not allow smoking products, this might be important to protect patients in that program.
It still allows District Attorney discretion to decline or try the case under the municipalities’ ordinance when under 10 grams.
It still allows municipalities to choose their own fines for amounts over 10 grams.
Municipalities can make this new state fine or other cannabis laws the lowest priority for Law Enforcement.
This may make more receptive municipalities move even further towards legalization.
There are 595 municipalities in Wisconsin, about a dozen municipalities currently have fines less than $100:
This list may not be exhaustive because there is no definitive source to search and compare municipal codes, but from searching codes, news articles, and other coverage/discussion, here is what was found. The following Wisconsin municipalities have ordinances with penalties, at least for the first offense, of less than $100 or with penalties with a range that includes values below $100:

• Appleton: $50-$150 (Appleton Resolution #15-R-20)

• Eau Claire: $1 (Eau Claire Ordinances § 1.24.030 Cn. 1.)

• Green Bay: $1-$1,1000 (Green Bay Ordinances § 27.902 (2))

• Kenosha: $10-$750, plus costs of prosecution (Kenosha Ordinances § 11.146)

• La Crosse: $1 (La Crosse Ordinances §§ 32-163 (A); 32-1 (c))

• Madison: $1 (Madison Ordinances §§ 23.20 (2); 1.08)

• Milwaukee: $0-$50 (Milwaukee Ordinances § 106-38 3. a-1.)

• Monona: No penalty for possession, use in or on one’s personal residence, or use as lawfully invited by the owner of a residence (Monona Ordinances § 335-11 B.)

• Racine: $75 (Racine Ordinances § 66-261 (b))

• Sturgeon Bay: $0-$100 (Sturgeon Bay Ordinances §§ 10.20; 25.04 (5) (a))

• Waukesha: $50-$500 (Waukesha Ordinances § 11.01 (5); 11.01 (10))

• Wausau: $50-$500 (Wausau Ordinances §§ 9.04.037; 9.04.038)

Milwaukee County is also considering a proposal to drop its marijuana penalties to $1; see “Milwaukee County supervisors explore dropping fine for marijuana possession to $1 maximum” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

Several other counties have adopted similar measures:

• Manitowoc County: $50-$500 (Manitowoc County Ordinances § 6.255)

• Oconto County: $1-$1,000 (Oconto County Ordinances § 19.050 (e) (2))

• Rock County: $1 (Rock County Resolution no. 20-9A-067)

In addition to fines, those who violate local marijuana ordinances also pay associated court costs, which can increase the penalty significantly; Eau Claire’s $1 fine becomes $148 when court costs are included, and a $200 maximum fine in West Allis becomes $1,321. This bill would decrease both the social and monetary burden on those who receive tickets for marijuana in almost every municipality.

This may not be the exact bill that we would have hoped for if we were writing it ourselves. However this is a great first step in the right direction, and would bring relief to a lot of people who get caught up in the system. We appreciate all of the legislators who support this bill.

For these reasons and more, Northern Wisconsin NORML and Southeastern Wisconsin NORML have joined together to voice our support for LRB-0435.

Please contact your elected representatives today and ask them to vote YES to LRB-0435.

Find your legislators here: https://legis.wisconsin.gov/

LRB-0435 is currently being circulated for co-sponsorship with a co-sponsorship deadline of February 17th, 2021.

Northern Wisconsin NORML Founder Interviewed about recent medical cannabis legislation in Wisconsin

ByNorthernWINORML.org Posted on12/01/2011 5:02 PM11/23/2014 3:20 AM

Medical marijuana bill reintroduced
Updated: Thursday, 01 Dec 2011, 11:17 AM CST
Published : Wednesday, 30 Nov 2011, 8:38 PM CST

Laura Smith, FOX 11 News
MADISON – Could medical marijuana be legalized in Wisconsin?

Proponents are trying once again to change the law.

Legislators who introduced a new bill Wednesday say it would allow seriously ill people access to marijuana to ease their pain.

“I’m certain at some point we will pass this in Wisconsin,” said State Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison).

Pocan and State Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) are introducing the latest proposal to legalize medical marijuana.

“We find there’s so much more support in this state than opposition and elected officials are simply behind public support on this,” said Pocan.

The measure would allow access to marijuana for patients with conditions like cancer, glaucoma, AIDS and HIV.

It also creates a maximum amount of marijuana a patient may receive.

Plus, the bill sets up a registry with the Department of Health Services.

“As far as a doctor goes, it should be a tool in their arsenal,” said Jay Selthofner, founder of Northern Wisconsin NORML (https://www.northernwinorml.org/). It’s a non-profit whose goal is to legalize marijuana in the state.

“As long as we can allow patients to use the medicine, allow caregivers to provide it in some way, shape or form, as long as we can take the patients off the battlefield on the war on drugs, I believe it’s a winning bill,” said Selthofner (http://www.jayselthofner.com/).

Medical marijuana opponents, including some drug addiction specialists, say there is no real advantage to having another drug available on the market.

“We have a lot of trouble with prescription drug abuse, we have a lot of trouble with alcohol, we have people who are addicted to marijuana and that seems to be as disruptive in people’s lives as any other drug,” said Thomas Fuchs, Director of LE Phillips Libertas Treatment Center in Chippewa Falls.

The bill was last attempted when Democrats controlled the Legislature in 2010, but it couldn’t find enough support then to pass. Now Republicans control both the Senate and the Assembly and it’s believed unlikely to win favor this time either.

“At this point I would be inclined to oppose it not that I think it would get to the floor, but I just think the idea has too many red flags surrounding it right now to be able to proceed,” said State Rep. Andre Jacque (R-Bellevue).

Pocan admits he doubts the bill will pass, but feels it’s important to keep the discussion going.

Right now 16 states, plus Washington D.C., have legalized medical marijuana. That includes Michigan.

Mitigating The COVID-19 Crisis By Evolving Cannabis Policies

ByNorthernWINORML.org Posted on04/07/2020 7:39 PM09/06/2021 5:58 PM

National NORML 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 light of the ongoing effort to promote public and health safety, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) strongly encourages state and local policymakers to implement the following guidelines to reduce person-to-person interactions, reduce unnecessary public servant-to-person interactions and to better protect the health of cannabis patients and consumers, as well as the general public.

NORML recommends:

• An immediate deprioritization of marijuana criminal and civil penalty enforcement
• An immediate withdrawal of all charges for those currently facing prosecution for a nonviolent marijuana-related offense
• Immediate review and release of currently incarcerated individuals who are either in jail or in prison solely for the commission of a nonviolent marijuana-related offense
• Immediate review and waiver of all pending probation requirements for individuals who have solely been convicted of a nonviolent marijuana-related crime

It is our hope that this serves as a resource. We need your help to put it in the hands of your policymakers and have them clearly connect the dots on how to do so. Sign the petition today and share on social media. Join us as a member for 2020 as we celebrate our 10th year as a NORML Affiliate.

Support Assembly Bill 236 / Senate Bill 237

ByJay Selthofner Posted on11/20/2019 12:19 PM11/20/2019 12:19 PM

Support Assembly Bill 236 / Senate Bill 237 Regarding firearms and confidentiality of medical marijuana patients.

Assembly Bill 236 is assigned to the 2019 Assembly Committee on State Affairs chaired by Republican Rob Swearingen from Rhinelander. Swearingen recently had negative public statements regarding marijuana reform archived here. Recent polling in his district shows that 63% of his constituents surveyed during the “Spring GOP Survey supported medical marijuana.

The companion bill in the Senate, SB 237 was sent to the Committee on Public Benefits, Licensing and State-Federal Relations chaired by Republican Chris Kapenga from Delafield.

Under current law, when a person purchases a handgun, the firearms dealer may not transfer the handgun to the purchaser until the dealer requests the Department of Justice (DOJ) to conduct a firearms restrictions record search to determine if the purchaser is prohibited from possessing a firearm under state or federal law.

DOJ must conduct an identical search on a person who applies for a license to carry a concealed weapon. This bill prohibits DOJ, when conducting a search to determine if a person is prohibited from possessing a firearm, from considering if the person participates in a medical marijuana program that is legal under state or federal law.

This bill also prohibits the Department of Health Services from disclosing to any federal agency the registry status of a person who participates in a medical marijuana registry program that is legal under state or federal law.

Introduction to a Field Activist NORML Sarah

ByNorthernWINORML.org Posted on06/15/2014 2:37 PM07/05/2014 8:32 AM

I’m a new NORML field activist in Central Wisconsin, and here’s my brief tale…. I’ve recently returned to Central Wisconsin to save money, be by family, and to focus on restoring my health. It’s good to be near family who can help support the difficult lifestyle that accompanies Crohn’s disease.

After my initial diagnosis in 2006, I succumbed to countless side effects from medications my doctor had prescribed, I was a wreck. Most of the medications I was taking were just to deal with side effects of the other medications I was taking. There were pills to suppress my immune system, to help me sleep, to dull the pain, to reduce the inflammation, to clear the nausea, to create an appetite, and to dispel the migraines. Not to mention nutritional supplements to stave off malnutrition.

Three years after diagnosis, I moved to Colorado. Shortly after my move, I became aware of the opportunity to use medical cannabis to treat my Crohn’s disease in Colorado. Over the course of the five years I was in Colorado, I was a medical cannabis patient for the last four.

In that time, I was able to wean myself off my other prescription medications. Using only medical cannabis oils in capsules and edibles, vaporized inhalant cannabis oils, and a medicinal diet created by a dietician and a naturopath, I successfully reduced the Crohn’s related inflammation in my intestines from over 18 inches, at diagnosis, to barely noticeable on diagnostic imaging and tests. At this time, the degree of inflammation is still very severe, but it’s impact has been reduced to less than a 1” section of my small intestines. This is all without harmful pharmaceuticals.

My medical goal now is to get into full remission. Since I have come to Wisconsin, I have had to quit medical cannabis and restart corticosteroids. One month after my first visit with my new doctor, and I am already taking four different prescription medications.

This week, I will likely start on an immune-modulator called azathioprine. A step I dread, since conservative estimates have shown that azathioprine increases a Crohn’s patient’s risk of developing lymphoma by 3- to 5-fold [Gut. Aug 2005; 54(8): 1121–1125.]

Alternatively, a recent small study was done with cannabis and Crohn’s patients who had poor responses to steroids, immunomodulators, or anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha agents. Preliminary findings showed a five-fold increase in incidences of remission, and a nearly 100% clinical response in patients taking medical cannabis vs the placebo group. Also, no significant side effects were noted. [Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2013 Oct; 11(10):1276-1280]

We need to make as much headway as we can in getting the word out about the need for medical cannabis here in Wisconsin. This is my hometown. I want to change the fact that I cannot live here and take the medication that works best for me, the medication that poses the least risk to my health and relieves more of my symptoms.

Wisconsin: Legislature Asked To Clarify Patchwork Of Marijuana Laws

ByNorthernWINORML.org Posted on03/26/2019 11:48 AM03/27/2019 2:25 PM

Sheriff, Hemp And Pot Advocates Say There’s Too Much Confusion Now
By John Davis
Published: Tuesday, March 26, 2019, 10:25am

The Wisconsin Legislature needs to do a better job clarifying marijuana policies that differ statewide — that’s according to supporters of legalized hemp and cannabis, and a Wisconsin sheriff.

Gov. Tony Evers has proposed legalizing medical marijuana, making possession of small amounts of the drug legal for personal use and allowing people convicted of past marijuana crimes to have them expunged from their record in his proposed state budget.

Some local communities have reduced penalties for marijuana offenses, while others haven’t.

States bordering Wisconsin, including Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Michigan all already have medical marijuana programs. Wisconsin does not.

Just last week, Florence County, in northeastern Wisconsin, which borders Michigan’s Upper Peninsula passed an ordinance prohibiting all marijuana establishments in response to Michigan becoming the first Midwestern state to legalize recreational marijuana.

“When you’re caught with marijuana in Wisconsin it really depends on who you are, where you’re caught and how much you’re caught with,” said Jay Selthofner, the founder of the northern Wisconsin chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

“Our drug unit doesn’t look at possession of marijuana. We’re not looking on the street for the user. But we have three major music festivals that we will cite people if they’re found to be in possession and we’ll probably escort them out of the festival for the day as we would an underaged juvenile drinking,” said Eau Claire County Sheriff Ron Cramer.

“We work very few marijuana cases. Our goal right now in this state is opioids, methamphetamine and the things that are causing major social issue in our communities,” he said.

Cramer said police are waiting for a position paper from Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul to spell out how to approach marijuana cases under state laws because of the confusion.

“Fifteen of our largest cities have decriminalized simple possession, that roughly is 1.5 million to 2 million people in our state,” Selthofner said. “Other counties have taken similar measures. But if you look at the state law, it’s archaic, to basically put somebody in jail for a plant.”

In 2016, Selthofner cites FBI statistics that NORML uses showing there were 16,000 arrests in Wisconsin for possession of marijuana and 1,800 arrests for selling pot.

“It needs to be changed. Especially because we’re surrounded by states that have either decriminalized, have medical marijuana or have recreational cannabis available to Wisconsin people who would travel there,” he said.

Meanwhile, hemp, marijuana’s non-psychoactive relative, is set to expand in its second year of legal production in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Hemp Alliance attorney Larry Konopacki said more than 2,000 applications have been submitted in 2019 to grow hemp in Wisconsin, more than six times the 300 applications that were submitted in 2018.

“I think it’s just interesting that we’re even talking about hemp and CBD in the same context as marijuana. It’s like a poppy seed muffin and heroin, they come from the same thing,” Konopacki said. “You can’t separate these things. I think from the hemp industry, we wish you could, but you can’t.”

He expects new legislation he’s calling “Hemp 2.0” that will update regulation of the second year of the state’s hemp industry to be introduced this week.

But it’s not expected to address marijuana.

“There are a lot of people out there who right now are perfectly legal in what they’re doing, but it’s very hard to distinguish between the legal and illegal activity. That of course would be solved if legalization (of marijuana) would occur,” Konopacki said.

“That’s a big policy and political question as to whether within our state we’re ready to do that. At this point, there’s strong forces that say ‘no’ and there’s strong forces that say ‘yes,’” he added.

The most recent Marquette University poll taken in January showed 59 percent support legalizing marijuana in Wisconsin and 35 percent are against legalization.

Source:
https://www.wpr.org/legislature-asked-clarify-patchwork-marijuana-laws

House Members Pass Historic Legislation Legitimizing Retail Cannabis Sales

ByNorthernWINORML.org Posted on09/25/2019 11:13 PM10/01/2019 1:03 AM

by Justin Strekal, NORML Political Director
September 25, 2019

Members of the House of Representatives voted 321 to 103 in favor of HR 1595: The SAFE Banking Act, which amends federal law so that explicitly banks and other financial institutions may work directly with state-legal marijuana businesses.

Two-hundred and twenty-nine Democrats and 91 Republicans cast ‘yes’ votes in favor of the measure.

This historic vote marks the first time ever that a chamber of Congress has ever held a successful floor vote on a stand-alone piece of marijuana reform legislation.

Today’s vote is a significant victory for the cannabis reform movement and here’s why: for the first time ever, a supermajority of the House voted affirmatively to recognize that the legalization and regulation of marijuana is a superior public policy to prohibition and criminalization.

Now we look to the Senate, where we are cautiously optimistic. Given the strong bipartisanship of the House vote, coupled with Senate Banking Chairman Mike Crapo’s recent pledge to hold a markup on this issue, we believe that Congress’ appetite to resolve this important issue has never been greater.

But we are not done. In fact, we’re just getting started.

Why NORML Supports Passage of HR 1595: The Safe Banking Act:

Federal law currently defines all marijuana-related endeavors as criminal enterprises, including those commercial activities that are licensed and legally regulated under state laws. Therefore, almost no state-licensed cannabis businesses can legally obtain a bank account, process credit cards, or provide loans to small businesses and entrepreneurs.

In this environment, the rapidly growing multi-billion dollar cannabis industry must operate largely on a cash-only basis, which makes businesses more susceptible to theft and more difficult to audit. This ongoing federal prohibition also places the safety and welfare of these businesses’ customers at risk, as they must carry significant amounts of cash on their persons in order to make legal purchases at retail facilities. For these reasons, NORML has long advocated that federal lawmakers vote “yes” on The SAFE Banking Act.

What’s Next?

Today’s vote is a significant first step, but it must not be the last. Much more action will still need to be taken by lawmakers. In the Senate, we demand that lawmakers in the Senate Banking Committee hold true to their commitment to move expeditiously in support of similar federal reforms. And in the House, we anticipate additional efforts to move forward and pass comprehensive reform legislation like The MORE Act — which is sponsored by the Chair of the House Judiciary — in order to ultimately comport federal law with the new political and cultural realities surrounding marijuana.

Now Is the Time to Demand Congress Do MORE.

Now that House members have overwhelmingly shown their support for HR 1595, it is time for them to address more comprehensive reform legislation, namely The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act.

Introduced by House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the MORE Act is bipartisan legislation that removes the marijuana plant from the Controlled Substances Act, thereby descheduling the substance at the federal level and enabling states to set their own regulatory policies absent the threat of federal interference.

But, perhaps most importantly, the MORE Act seeks to address many of the past wrongs of marijuana criminalization. Specifically, it would appropriate a portion of the federal taxes collected from the legal industry to pay for the expungement of past criminal records and to partially fund reentry services, job training, and community improvements in jurisdictions that have been most disproportionately impacted by war on marijuana. Furthermore, the MORE Act additional allocates a portion of the federal taxes collected to the Small Business Administration to support small businesses and entrepreneurs who seek to engage in the emerging legal marketplaces.

Strike while the iron is hot and send a message to your lawmakers in support of ending prohibition NOW!

Take time today to tell your members of Congress that their work is far from over. Nearly one in four Americans now reside in a jurisdiction where the adult use of cannabis is legal and it is time for members of Congress to stand up for their rights and liberties.

Thank you again for your support for NORML and for being on the right side of history. We could never have gotten this far without you, and with your continued support we know that we can ultimately secure cannabis freedom in our time.

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