On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Senate Committee on InsuranceSenate Committee on Insurance, Licensing and Forestry held a public hearing on Senate Bill 1034 relating to medical marijuana. Before the hearing, State Senator Melissa Agard D-Madison, a vocal supporter of marijuana legalization, revealed that she will testify against the bill and released the following statement as reported by WisPolitics:
The legality of cannabis in Wisconsin is the most dangerous thing about it. The majority of Wisconsinites support full cannabis legalization, and Senate Bill 1034 falls short of what the state desperately needs to reform.
While I am encouraged that Senate Bill 1034 received a public hearing, we as legislators had 15 months of this session in which we could have worked on legalizing cannabis in a bipartisan manner. Agard said that Wisconsinites are ready for marijuana reform, and that the bill does not go far enough for cannabis reform or adequately address the harms of cannabis prohibition in Wisconsin.
We can't settle for half-baked, insufficient legislation that is nothing more than a political ploy to give folks false hope on the prospects of legalization of cannabis here in Wisconsin. Agard concluded that we must put our efforts behind full legalization of cannabis.
The measure isn't going to be the law this year because of the adjourning and will be back in session until 2023, which is one of the problems with the hearing. The Senate committee hearing on the medical marijuana bill is an accomplishment in that it allows supporters to present their arguments about MMJ's benefits as they try to reform the state, Sen. Agard previously noted that this was insufficient.
She stated at the time that this is the second session in a row in which legislative Republicans have introduced a politically motivated bill to try and fool the people of Wisconsin into thinking they are real about legalization. A public hearing after the session has already been given is a cynical political ploy that gives people false hope about the prospects of this legislation. Agard said that she was disappointed by her Republican colleagues who did not see fit to help her in her legalization efforts.