Legalization of Marijuana Starting to See Bipartisan Support

Thursday, February 10th, 2022 -- 10:00 AM

(AP) The push to legalize marijuana in Wisconsin enjoys some bipartisan support, but backers of bills that would make it legal for either medical or recreational use say it won’t happen this year.

Still, the top Democrat in the state Senate said Wednesday that Wisconsin is closer than it’s ever been to loosening its marijuana laws. Every neighboring state has legalized marijuana to some degree.

“I never thought I was going to live to see the day, but we’re actually talking realistically about marijuana reform,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley said at a meeting of the Wisconsin Counties Association.

There are bills from Democrats and Republicans that would legalize medical marijuana, from Democrats that would also legalize it for recreational use, and a bipartisan measure that would decriminalize the possession of marijuana.

The bills come after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers last year proposed legalizing marijuana in the state budget, a provision removed by Republicans who control the Legislature.

But that hasn’t stopped the conversation about having Wisconsin join the 37 states that have legalized medical marijuana and the 18 that have fully legalized it, including Illinois and Michigan. Wisconsin’s other two neighbors, Iowa and Minnesota, allow medical marijuana.

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