2018 was an amazing year for moving Wisconsin closer to cannabis legalization. Never before has the state seen the level of support for legalization of cannabis for both medical and adult use as 2018. Not only did the Marquette Law School Poll find their highest level of support for legalizing cannabis like alcohol with 61% saying they approve, an unprecedented 16 counties and 2 cities placed cannabis advisory referendums on the Nov. 6 ballots. Five other counties considered referendums, other locations continue to debate resolutions in favor. All the referendums passed easily, as Cannabadger had predicted. Cannabis penalties were reduced in Green Bay, Eau Claire after the election, and other cities are also looking at penalty reductions. Voters elected pro-medical cannabis Democrats Tony Evers governor and Josh Kaul Attorney General, replacing two staunch opponents of cannabis law reform, outgoing Gov. Scott Walker and outgoing Attorney General Brad Schimel. In addition, Wisconsin’s hemp industry was off to a great start in 2018 with storefronts opening in locations across the state, production ramping up, and more investments planned for the 2019 season.
Below are Cannabadger’s Top Ten most read articles of 2018:
10: Farm Bureau and hemp businesses push back after DOJ position paper says CBD illegal in Wisconsin
Green Bay’s Fox11 News has reported that preliminary numbers show the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) received 341 applications for the hemp pilot program, of which 248 were for growing hemp and 94 for processing. But so far, most media has been quiet about a controversy that erupted Monday, April 30, the day before the licensing application deadline, when DATCP sent out a message on their hemp listserve and placed on their website a document from the Wisconsin Dept. of Justice titled “WSIC Analytical Note,” dated April 27, that possession and sale of CBD is illegal in Wisconsin. Read More…
9: TIE: Langlade and Walworth join 8 other counties looking at cannabis advisory referendums
Langlade County, the northeastern Wisconsin County home to the city of Antigo is the latest and at least the tenth Wisconsin county to propose placing a cannabis legalization advisory referendum on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. Read More…
9: TIE: Six of seven Wisconsin county boards approve cannabis advisory referendums for Nov. 6 ballot
Six of seven Wisconsin county boards, voting on the same day, passed cannabis advisory referendums for the Nov. 6 ballot. Langlade, Marquette, Forest, Eau Claire, Lincoln and Kenosha counties now join the nine other counties that previously adopted advisory referendum proposals. The combined estimated 2016 population of the nine counties already approved is 2,095,117. Read More…
8: TIE: The Cannabadger Guide to the 2018 Wisconsin County Cannabis Advisory Referendums
The year 2018 has been a historic year for cannabis law reform in Wisconsin. On Nov. 6, sixteen Wisconsin counties and two cities, from the Michigan border to the Illinois border, from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River will have the opportunity to weigh in on Wisconsin’s archaic and punitive cannabis laws when they go to the polls to vote. While Dane County has twice held county cannabis advisory referendums and Madison and other Wisconsin cities held both advisory and binding referendums on cannabis in the 1970s, never before have so many Wisconsin voters had the chance to express their opinions on the cannabis issue. More than half of Wisconsin residents live in the 16 counties. Read More…
8: TIE: More Wisconsin counties looking at advisory referendums on pot legalization
An advisory referendum on legalizing cannabis has already been approved by the Milwaukee County Board and in Dane County, a resolution that would do the same has been introduced with 19 cosponsors and is likely to pass. Read More…
7: Sauk is 4th Wisconsin county to approve Nov. 6 cannabis advisory referendum
In Sauk County the full board approved placing the advisory referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot at their Tuesday, July 17 meeting by a vote of 21-4 with 5 abstentions. The county becomes the fourth county to do so after Milwaukee, Rock and Dane counties. Previously, the resolution proposal passed the board’s Executive and Legislative Committee July 10 on a unanimous voice vote. Before the vote, board members passed an amendment 28-1 to change “prescribe” to recommend” in the proposed question. Read More…
6: Portage County approves cannabis advisory referendum on 22-1 vote
History was again made with the Portage County Board voting 22-1 to approve a medical cannabis advisory referendum for the Nov. 6 ballot this evening in Stevens Point. The vote makes Portage County the eighth Wisconsin county to pass a cannabis advisory referendum for the Nov. 6 ballot. Previously only Dane County has held cannabis advisory referendums in 2010 and 2014. The question will read: “Should the state of Wisconsin allow individuals with debilitating medical conditions to use and safely access marijuana for medical purposes, if those individuals have a written recommendation from a licensed Wisconsin physician?” Read More…
5: UPDATED: Cannabis comes up twice in first debate between Scott Walker and Tony Evers
On Friday, October 19, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers met for their first gubernatorial election debate. The subject of legalizing cannabis was raised twice, first surprisingly by Walker himself, later as a question from, one of the panel of moderators that quizzed the two candidates. Read More…
4: UPDATED: Racine and Lincoln make 16 counties approving Nov. 6 cannabis advisory referendum
BREAKING: Make that 16 counties. Cannabadger has just learned Lincoln County passed a medical cannabis advisory referendum Aug. 21 as well as Racine County passing one Aug. 28. Here are the minutes from the Lincoln County 8/21 board meeting at which it was approved by a voice vote with 22 members present. (Map below updated) Read More…
3: Motion to pull medical cannabis bill to Assembly floor fails 34-59 in party line vote
During what is possibly the state assembly’s final session before adjourning for the year, Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison) made a motion around 7:25pm Thursday night to suspend the rules and bring AB75, the Compassionate Cannabis Care Act, to the floor for a vote. Rep. Taylor is the bill’s assembly lead sponsor with Sen. Jon Erpenbach the lead senate sponsor. Read More…
2: La Crosse sixth Wisconsin county to ok November cannabis advisory referendum
La Crosse County supervisors okayed a cannabis legalization advisory referendum for the Nov. 6 ballot Thursday night by a 17-8 margin, becoming the sixth Wisconsin county to do so. The six in order of passage are Milwaukee, Rock, Dane, Sauk, Brown and La Crosse. The combined estimated 2016 population of the six counties totals 2,095,117. The statewide estimated 2018 population is 5,818,049. Read More…
1: Democratic candidates for Wisconsin governor favor legalization at forum
Ten of the Democratic candidates for Wisconsin governor appeared at a forum on Wednesday Jan. 17, 2018 at the UW-Fox Valley James Perry Theater in Menasha. And, when asked, nine of the ten favored legalization. Read More…
While Wisconsin’s gerrymandered legislative districts have kept the legislature in GOP hands, lawmakers can no longer ignore voices of their constituents who demonstrated unequivocally that current cannabis laws are unacceptable and that it is time to at least join the 33 states, District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico where medical cannabis is legal, if not the ten states, including our neighbor, Michigan, where the adult use of cannabis is also legal.
