Senate GOP 'close' to supporting medical marijuana, leader Devin LeMahieu says
Molly BeckMADISON - Republican lawmakers in the state Senate are "close" to supporting the legalization of marijuana in Wisconsin for medical use, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said Thursday.
LeMahieu, who until now has opposed the idea, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he believes legislation to create a medical marijuana program in the state could be passed this legislative session as long as regulations are put forward to ensure it's for those in serious pain.
"Our caucus is getting pretty close on medical marijuana," LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said. "A lot of our members, who are maybe at a point where they can vote for it now, they just want to make sure it's regulated well."
"We don't want people going in because their back hurts and getting medical marijuana. It needs to be cancer pain, you know — prescribed."
LeMahieu's comments mark the first time a leader of the Senate Republicans has shown support for the idea. Opposition within the caucus has been a key hurdle for proposals in the past.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in recent years has shown support for legalizing medical marijuana, but former Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, who now represents the 5th Congressional District, and LeMahieu had previously expressed deep skepticism toward the idea. LeMahieu in 2021 said he would not support legalizing marijuana for medical use unless the Food and Drug Administration approved it as a prescription drug.
A spokeswoman for Vos did not immediately say whether Assembly Republicans are on board, too. LeMahieu said he thinks they "could be."
Democrats have long called for marijuana to be legalized in Wisconsin for medical and recreational use. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is planning to again propose legalizing marijuana in the next state budget that lawmakers and Evers will soon begin negotiating and writing. The plan, which would require users to be 21 to purchase, is estimated to generate $166 million in revenue that Evers wants to use to help fund schools.
"Wisconsinites overwhelmingly support a path toward legalizing and regulating marijuana like we do alcohol while ensuring folks can access the life-saving medication they need. As Gov. Evers indicated on Tuesday, he's looking forward to working together with legislators on both sides of the aisle this session to find common ground on this important issue," Evers' spokeswoman Britt Cudaback said in a statement.
Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard, a Democrat from Madison who has repeatedly and unsuccessfully proposed to legalize marijuana in Wisconsin, said Thursday she looks forward to the details of what Senate Republicans could potentially support.
Agard said she doesn't agree with picking "winners and losers" in terms of what kind of pain would make someone eligible for a prescription.
"I will always be a champion for full legalization of cannabis in Wisconsin. I know that's what a majority of people in our state want and we know the most dangerous thing about cannabis is that it remains illegal," Agard said.
Sixty-four percent of Wisconsinites support legalizing marijuana for any use, according to October polling by the Marquette University Law School. More than 80% of Wisconsinites supported the idea of a medical marijuana program, according to 2019 polling.
Wisconsin is in the minority of states that have not legalized marijuana use in some form. Thirty-six states have medical marijuana programs, including states bordering Wisconsin. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said recently he expects the state to legalize marijuana in his state by May.
In 2018, voters in 16 counties and two cities voiced support for the legalization of medical or recreational marijuana through advisory referendum questions on their ballots that year. The referendums solicited opinions on legalizing personal use for adults age 21 years or older.
Republican state Sen. Mary Felzkowski told the Journal Sentinel on Wednesday she plans to re-introduce legislation that would create a state-run medical marijuana program that would make available cannabis only in the form of a liquid, oil, pill, topical cream or tincture.
Felzkowski, a Republican from Irma, said at a hearing on the bill in April that her interest in joining the push to create a medical marijuana program was piqued in 2014 after enduring treatment for Stage 4 breast cancer. She said the drugs prescribed to eliminate the cancer created excruciating pain that she could only legally address with highly addictive opioids.
"We are actually having those conversations right now — I can't talk in for-sures, but will be reintroducing the bill," Felzkowski said.
The Wisconsin Medical Society, a statewide association that represents doctors, opposed the bill citing a lack of research showing how marijuana could harm certain conditions.
"Until science can determine which elements in grown marijuana are potentially therapeutic and which are potentially harmful, any 'medical' marijuana program is at best a pale imitation of true medical therapies developed through scientific research," Mark Grapentine, chief policy and advocacy officer for the group, wrote in an April memo to Felzkowski.
Laura Schulte of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.