Tell the Wisconsin State Legislature: It's past time to legalize cannabis

Wisconsin is falling behind our neighboring states. Michigan, Illinois & Minnesota all have legalized marijuana while Wisconsin continues to ban cannabis and lose out on millions of dollars as a result. Wisconsin residents spent 36.1 million dollars in Illinois last year on cannabis products. Meanwhile, estimates suggest that legalizing cannabis could bring in upwards of $150 million in tax revenue for the state. While we continue the vicious and costly cycle of outlawing and criminalizing marijuana possession, a Marquette Law School poll found that 69 percent of registered voters in Wisconsin believe cannabis should be legal.

In 2023, Governor Evers released his third biennial budget request, which again included language to legalize medical and recreational marijuana in the state. He also proposed reducing or repealing sentences of people with marijuana possession convictions that would be legal under the new legislation. The move would improve racial equity, as Black people are more likely to suffer the consequences of marijuana possession. An ACLU report released in 2020 found that Black people are 4.2 times more likely than white people to be arrested for simple marijuana possession statewide. However, legislators on the Joint Committee on Finance stripped this legalization proposal from the 2023-25 state budget.

Sign this petition and let the Wisconsin Legislature know they must take action on cannabis in the upcoming 2025-26 legislative session. The war on drugs has failed, and so have these draconian policies on marijuana.