A limited medical marijuana program introduced Monday by Republican lawmakers would establish five state-run dispensaries to serve certain Wisconsinites who meet a restrictive list of medical conditions such as cancer, glaucoma and post-traumatic stress disorder.
State residents who have one of the conditions — certified by a physician — would need to apply for a state permit to be able to buy a variety of marijuana products including edibles, topical treatments and oils, according to bill sponsors.
The program does not allow smokable marijuana.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said the program would be among the most restrictive in the country.
"We are offering a very limited version that's going to help people who truly are sick," Vos told WISN-TV’s “UpFront” news show over the weekend.
"We are not going to have something like other states do where you can walk in and say, ‘I don't feel well,’ and they give you a gummy bear."
The bill would create the only state-run program in the country, sponsors said. It would open government-operated dispensaries; establish a new public office to issue user permits to state residents; keep a registry of those eligible to purchase medical marijuana; and install a new regulatory framework to issue licenses and enforce rules for growers and processors.
Rep. Jon Plumer, R-Lodi, who introduced the bill in a press conference Monday, told reporters Republican bill sponsors didn’t want the program to end up “like the wild west.”
“We want to make this available to people, but we want to have tight controls on it as well,” Plumer said.
The proposal did not include any information on where the five state-run dispensaries may be located.
The full list of medical conditions that qualify a state resident to apply for a medical marijuana permit would include:
cancer
HIV or AIDS
seizures and epilepsy
post-traumatic stress disorder
Alzheimer’s disease
glaucoma
severe chronic pain (tightly defined in the legislation)
severe chronic nausea
severe muscle spasms
multiple sclerosis
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
chronic motor or vocal tic disorder
Tourette syndrome
inflammatory bowel disease
any terminal illness with a probable life expectancy of less than one year.
Plumer told reporters that the list could be expanded down the road.
“It's going to be probably modified over the years as we learn about it,” Plumer said. “But I think we’re at a really strong starting point here.”
The dispensaries established in the program would be run by state employees. Similarly, approved marijuana cultivators would be independent but need to be licensed by the state.
The proposed program would establish an Office of Medical Cannabis Regulation within the state Department of Health Services, through which state residents with qualifying medical conditions would need to apply for a permit. The program would allow for a certain number of caregivers to buy medical marijuana products on behalf of the permit-holder, according to the proposal — those people would also be kept on a state registry of medical marijuana permit holders.
The head of the regulatory office would be appointed by the governor and approved by the Senate — a political process that has run into partisan hurdles in recent months.
The proposal would require the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to oversee and regulate medical marijuana growers and processors, as well as create and enforce rules related to testing and security of growing and distribution locations. Anyone who hopes to operate as a state-sanctioned grower would need to get a license from DATCP. Current bill language sets the grower license fee at $10,000 but notes that the Agriculture department has the power to change that.
Bill language stipulates that no one applying for a license — or serving on the board of an entity applying for a growers license — can have been convicted of a crime “unless at least 10 years have passed since the completion of any sentence imposed for the crime, including any period of incarceration, parole, or extended supervision, and any period of probation imposed for the crime.”
Similar stipulations apply to potential processors of medicinal marijuana. The current proposal sets the processor fee at $50,000.
Plumer told reporters Monday the state-run program would not bring Wisconsin any tax revenue, instead referring to the proposal as a “break-even program.”
What’s next for the marijuana bill?
Bill sponsors hope the proposal will work its way quickly through the committee process.
“We’d like to get it done this spring,” Plumer told reporters.
Even without bipartisan support, Republicans have enough votes to get the bill through the Assembly.
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, a Democrat from Racine, said Monday she was looking into the Republican proposal.
“We know that an overwhelming majority of Wisconsinites support medical cannabis and that a majority of Wisconsinites support full legalization,” Neubauer said. “We are actively looking into the details of this proposal and will keep working to pass a bill that addresses the needs of Wisconsinites.”
Plumer told reporters that Assembly Republicans had been in conversations with members of the Senate about the bill and he’s hopeful the legislation will make it through both bodies.
Senate Minority Leader Diane Hesselbein, D-Middleton, said in a statement Monday she was happy Republicans were “joining the conversation,” but expressed concerns about the bill parameters.
“While this proposal is a small step in the right direction, I fear that it may be too restrictive as Speaker Vos previously stated,” Hesselbein said. “We do not need the most restrictive medicinal program in the nation. We need the most effective.”
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers — who has previously stated that he supports recreational legalization in Wisconsin — told the Cap Times last week he was likely to sign the bill as a “step in the right direction,” provided the bill wasn’t too restrictive.
It remains to be seen if the governor considers the new Republican proposal to fall under that definition.
As it currently stands, 38 states have legalized medical marijuana and 24 also have legalized recreational marijuana for those age 21 and older.
