Wisconsin GOP lawmakers may be further away from taking up medical marijuana legislation this session than previously thought, based on comments from one of the Legislature’s top Republicans.
In an interview that aired Sunday, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told WISN-TV “we’re not that close” on legalizing medical marijuana. He suggested that some Assembly Republicans feel it would be a gateway to recreational marijuana.
“Every time Gov. (Tony) Evers brings up the idea of recreational marijuana, that scares away a whole bunch of people who say, ‘We do not need to become like Illinois or Michigan,’” Vos said.
Both states have legal weed available both medicinally and recreationally, while Wisconsin’s neighbor to the west, Minnesota, offers forms of legal medical marijuana, and is likely to legalize recreational marijuana this spring.
Vos has previously told Wisconsin Public Radio he supports limited access to medical marijuana, a position he reiterated to WISN-TV.
“If we are going to do medical marijuana, it has nothing to do with generating taxes for the state. And it has nothing to do with creating a new industry,” he said. “It should be all about helping people who through no fault of their own have a chronic disease that is awful to deal with.”
Evers has long said he wants Wisconsin to legalize both medical and recreational marijuana. In December, he told WPR that he will propose legalizing weed in his upcoming state budget — as he did in 2021….
