Hundreds expected to gather at Capitol in support of reforming marijuana laws
It no longer seems to matter whether Democrats or Republicans are in charge of the Legislature. Neither party seems keen on legalizing marijuana, prompting those who support updating the state’s cannabis laws — whether for recreational or medical purposes or both — to say it’s time to take it to the people.
“It makes perfect sense if people are talking about it,” says Jay Selthofner, a longtime activist who founded the Northern Wisconsin chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. “It’s an easy way for lawmakers to address the issue without really addressing it.”
But even posing the question to voters in the form of a constitutional amendment requires the Legislature to sign off on the ballot question, not just once, but twice, in two separate sessions.
For that reason and the fact that there is a resilient belief among supporters that change is possible, based on the results of voter-approved legalization efforts in Washington and Colorado, hundreds of people are expected to gather from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday for Marijuana Law Reform Lobby Day at the Capitol.
More may be coming to the Capitol prior to the 7 p.m. Tuesday start of Gov. Scott Walker’s third State of the State address, but activist Gary Storck said Monday that the Madison chapter of NORML had not yet heard whether its request for a Capitol permit had been granted.
Storck helped lead an unsuccessful effort to legalize medical marijuana in 2009 when Democrats had control of the governor’s office and the Legislature.
Aside from their ultimate goal of legalizing marijuana, Storck says supporters also want to repeal the state law that makes a second-offense marijuana possession charge, regardless of quantity, an automatic felony.
Storck says it was an uphill battle with Democrats in charge and it still is with Republicans now in control.
According to an Associated Press article, Republican Gov. Scott Walker said in mid-December that “he’s not interested in legalizing marijuana.” Walker added the only way he sees it happening is if state residents approve the idea in a referendum similar to those passed in November in Colorado and Washington.
On Monday, a spokesman for Sen. Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said the issue “is not on our radar screen.”
“Our priorities will be tied to job creation and balancing the state budget,” said Tom Evenson in an email.
Storck counters that fiscal concerns and job growth are precisely why marijuana should be legal. A legalized cannabis industry would create jobs and the state would save money on incarceration costs, he says.
Storck sees a plus side to waging what seems like a losing battle.
“The more we push and talk about these issues, the more people talk about cannabis legislation,” says Storck, who co-founded Madison NORML in 2004, and IMMLY (Is My Medicine Legal Yet?) several years later. “I think a lot of people are finding out that their friends, neighbors and co-workers support legalization.”
Selthofner says he now splits his time between a home in Green Lake and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. A few years back, he started the Northern Wisconsin NORML chapter.
So what’s he doing in Michigan? Several cities in that state have decriminalized possession of small amounts of pot, while Kalamazoo allows medical marijuana dispensaries. Selthofner says he’s working with a compassion club in Michigan to get patients the medicine they need.
“Plenty of patients and growers are moving to Michigan,” he says.
He says keeping such folks in Wisconsin takes one lawmaker, regardless of party affiliation, to understand the complexity of the marijuana issue.
“Whether it’s from a health care standpoint, an alternative tax model or the sheer horrors of the prohibition model, it just takes one person to dive into the issue,” he says.
Source: JESSICA VANEGEREN | The Capital Times | jvanegeren@madison.com
