Wisconsin Senators hold hearing on GOP leader’s new medical marijuana legalization bill

Wisconsin senators on Wednesday took up a newly filed Republican-led bill that would legalize medical marijuana in the state.

Members of the Senate Health Committee, just one week after Senate president Mary Felzkowski, (R), and Sen. Patrick Testin, (R), filed this legislation, debated it at an audience, hearing from patients and advocates.

Assembly member Patrick Snyder (R), and other lawmakers also submitted a companion Assembly version, but the bill hasn’t yet been advanced by their chamber.

It is true that “illness has no discrimination.” People from every walk of life are affected. “There is no doubt each of us know someone who has struggled with an illness, and found ways to get through the day,” Testin told the audience at this hearing. He described how his grandfather treated cancer symptoms using medical cannabis decades ago. There are many medications doctors prescribe for these conditions, but they often have unpleasant side effects. This can make life more difficult.

He said that in some situations, taking opioids long term is the only way to relieve pain. This can cause a host of problems for our state, and its residents. There is an alternative.”

The senator stated that “red and blue states have come together to recognize this as a viable alternative for patients in their states regardless of partisanship.” Wisconsin should join other states and offer another alternative to patients who may find the relief they require.

Felzkowski told her story about overcoming breast carcinoma, and struggling with side effects from opioids and prescription medications she had been prescribed. She then asked her oncologist their opinion of the idea of medical cannabis being legalized. She was told that marijuana, while not a cure-all, is a tool that can benefit countless patients.

Wisconsin is surrounded by states which allow medical marijuana products. These products are not for everyone—but for others that use opioids or other medications to treat their health condition, the side effects of these drugs can be debilitating,” the Senate president said. Someone with a serious illness should not need to break the law or travel out of state in order to get relief from their condition. This is unfortunately a situation in which many Wisconsinites find themselves.

Rachael Cabral-Guevara is the chairperson of the Health Committee. She said, that as a health care provider herself, “she hears stories all the time” of the potential medical benefits of cannabis. And while some providers might not want to participate in a medical marijuana program, “there are many that do…because we know our patients are going and purchasing these products to manage their symptoms from other states.”

As a doctor, she added that it was better for her patients to be honest about what they were using to control their symptoms rather than guessing. There are many people who will not be upfront because of fear of the consequences. I hope this bill eliminates that fear so individuals prescribing medication can consider that when thinking about dosing or contraindications.

Felzkowski, when asked why her legislation did not provide employment protections to medical marijuana patients who would like to use it for their treatment, said that she “did everything possible to make this bill pass in both chambers.”

She said, “I’ve always thought that if I were queen for the day I would probably change a lot of laws.” We have to ensure that everyone in our caucus is comfortable with the legislation.

Norah, 17, a teenager with Rett Syndrome, a neurodevelopmental condition, testified. She spoke through a computer due to her speech disability.

Medical cannabis helps my friends with Rett’s syndrome sleep better at night. They also experience relief from their painful muscle spasms. Why am I not getting relief for mine? She asked. My friends with access to marijuana see marked improvements in therapy and communication skills. “Why can’t I see the same type of improvement in my skills?”

Megan Lowe also joined her to discuss the positive effects of medical cannabis that she had experienced during breast cancer treatment.

“I used it to find relief from my hot flashes, my insomnia, my crippling anxiety, my neuropathy, my restless legs, my itchy skin—the list goes on,” she said. Cannabis made cancer treatment and recovery easier so I could return to caring for my mother.

Wisconsin GOP Assembly Speaker, who spoke earlier in the month, said he hoped lawmakers could “find a common ground” to support legislation that would legalize medical cannabis. The new marijuana bill introduced by the Republican Senate Leadership is not likely to pass the Wisconsin Assembly because it “is too broad-based and too far-reaching.”

As the 2025 session was set to get underway, Felzkowski said she was “hoping to have a conversation” in the legislature about legalizing medical marijuana this year—though the Republican Assembly speaker still represented “an obstacle,” she added.

In previous sessions the Senate Leader had sponsored medical marijuana legislation. He has now formally presented this new bill.

Here are the key provisions of the Senate president’s latest medical marijuana bill.

• The qualifying conditions would be cancer, HIV/AIDS and post-traumatic disorder. Also, epilepsy. Severe chronic pain. Chronic muscle spasms. Alzheimer’s. Parkinson’s. Multiple sclerosis. Inflammatory bowel diseases. Tourette Syndrome.
• Concentrates, oils, edibles (including pills), tinctures and vaporizers would be acceptable forms. The use of cannabis in any form which could be consumed as smoke would be prohibited.
• It is not allowed to cultivate at home.
• Three caregivers can be designated by the patient to buy and possess cannabis medical products for them.
• Registrations for patients and caregivers will last two years, and can be renewed. Registrations could be revoked if a person is convicted of a crime or violates certain drug laws. The fee for the annual registration would be $20.
• The dispensaries will be required to hire pharmacists to advise patients or caregivers on the daily dosage. Patients who receive medical marijuana the first time can get up to 30-days supply, while those returning for subsequent visits may be able to obtain up to 90-days supply.
• The state Prescription Drug Monitoring Program would require that the use of medical marijuana by patients be documented.
• This bill will protect the parental rights of patients who use medical cannabis and their caregivers from housing discrimination. However, it allows employers to refuse or fire workers because they are using medical marijuana.
• Patients or caregivers may only have medical cannabis in their home, when they are traveling from their dispensary to their residence. If you do not have an ID card, or possess medical marijuana in locations that aren’t allowed by law, there will be a civil penalty of $25.
• Sales taxes on medical cannabis will be waived.
• The State would issue licenses to businesses involved in cultivation, processing and laboratory work, as well as dispensaries, but only if they met certain requirements for residency, eligibility and fees.
• Under the Department of Health Services, a new Office of Medical Cannabidiol Regulation will be created to monitor the patients’ registry and dispensaries. The governor would appoint its director.
• Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection will oversee and regulate the cultivation, testing and processing of cannabis.
• Localities could not regulate or limit medical cannabis business zoning.

Meanwhile, a Republican candidate for governor of Wisconsin said in July that he was “open to considering different opportunities” when it comes to legalizing medical or adult-use marijuana in the state, though he has provided little in the way of specifics so far.

On the Democratic Side, Current Gov. Tony Evers will not run for reelection. He supports the legalization of cannabis. But he said in June that if his party can take control of the legislature, the state can “finally” legalize marijuana so that residents don’t have to go to neighboring Illinois to visit its adult-use market.

Separately in June, a poll from Marquette Law School found that two in three Wisconsin voters support legalizing marijuana.

The poll found that public support for legalizing cannabis has increased steadily since 2013, when the institute began tracking the opinion of the general population. 67 percent now back the change in policy. It’s a 17-point increase over the results of 2013.

The Democrats, with 88 percent of the vote, are most likely to support legalizing marijuana, followed by Independents (79%). A majority of Republicans (56%), however, said that they are still against legalizing adult-use cannabis.

Underscoring the importance of party control, the state’s Republican-controlled Senate and Assembly this summer rejected another attempt to legalize marijuana, defeating amendments to budget legislation that would have ended prohibition in the state and established new medical and recreational cannabis programs.

Evers has routinely attempted to change that policy as part of his budget requests—and Democratic leaders have similarly pushed for reform.

Republicans in the legislature also cut the marijuana provisions from a state budget proposal in May, as they’ve done in past sessions.

Despite Republicans’ move to cut legalization from the budget legislation, party leaders recently acknowledged that the debate over medical marijuana legalization is “not going to go away,” and there’s hope it can be resolved this session.

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Tyler August, Assembly Minority Leader (R), stated in February that “I’m not sure anyone can be so naive as to believe that marijuana and THC aren’t available in Wisconsin. I’m optimistic that we will be able to.”

If medical marijuana is to be called such, it should be treated as a drug. The marijuana debate will not go away, Sen. Dan Feyen said. “The margins of victory are smaller.”

There have been repeated attempts to legalize medical marijuana in the legislature over recent years, including the introduction of legislation from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) that called for a limited program facilitated through state-run dispensaries. It was controversial, though, amongst his Republican peers, and the legislation ultimately died last year.

Evers previewed his plan to include marijuana legalization in his budget in January, while also arguing that residents of the state should be allowed to propose new laws by putting binding questions on the ballot—citing the fact that issues such as cannabis reform enjoy sizable bipartisan support while the GOP-controlled legislature has repeatedly refused to act.

Previously, in 2022, the governor signed an executive order to convene a special legislative session with the specific goal of giving people the right to put citizen initiatives on the ballot, raising hopes among advocates that cannabis legalization could eventually be decided by voters. However, it was not adopted by the GOP.

Evers said in December that marijuana reform is one of several key priorities the state should pursue in the 2025 session, as lawmakers work with a budget surplus.

Days after he made the remarks, a survey found the reform would be welcomed by voters in rural parts of the state. Nearly two thirds said they were in favor of legalizing marijuana.

Last May, the governor said he was “hopeful” that the November 2024 election would lead to Democratic control of the legislature, in part because he argued it would position the state to finally legalize cannabis.

He stated at the time, “We have been hard working over the last 5 years. We’ve had several budgets. “I’m aware that there are many states around us with legalized marijuana. And we will keep doing this.”

A Wisconsin Democratic Assemblymember tried to force a vote on a medical cannabis compromise proposal last year, as an amendment to an unrelated kratom bill, but he told MEDCAN24 he suspects leadership intentionally pulled that legislation from the agenda at the last minute to avoid a showdown on the issue.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Revenue released a fiscal estimate of the economic impact of a legalization bill from then-Sen. Melissa Agard (D) in 2023, projecting that the reform would generate nearly $170 million annually in tax revenue.

A legislative analysis requested by lawmakers estimated that Wisconsin residents spent more than $121 million on cannabis in Illinois alone in 2022, contributing $36 million in tax revenue to the neighboring state.

Evers and other Democrats have since at least last January insisted that they would be willing to enact a modest medical marijuana program, even if they’d prefer more comprehensive reform.

Philip Steffan provided the photo.