All right, so I guess tell me about your tour.
We caught up with you over the summer, but they've continued.
So what are you, what's the reception you're getting?
So the reception is great, actually, and because of that,
because people have seen us across the state of Wisconsin,
folks are reaching out and inviting us into their communities
and into their businesses and asking us
to please come and continue the grassroots tour.
So we recently announced a second leg of the grassroots tour
and we've already started embarking on it.
And no surprise, people are showing up.
They've got thoughtful questions.
But overwhelmingly, when I'm hearing from folks,
whether they're business owners or local elected officials
or just folks, ordinary folks who live in the communities
and play in the communities and raising their families
in those communities, is that we are an island of prohibition.
And prohibition did not work in Wisconsin
when it came to alcohol or margarine.
It's not working when it comes to cannabis.
And instead of being this island of prohibition in Wisconsin,
that we need to get our stuff together
and figure out how it is that we're gonna maintain
and increase safety, prosperity, and opportunity,
as well as honor people's personal liberties and freedoms
in Wisconsin, now that we have Minnesota added
to the formula of Michigan and Illinois
with responsible adult usage policies.
So you recently introduced your bill.
What are you expecting to get?
How far do you think that's gonna go?
What have you heard from leadership?
Yeah, so we did just introduce the bill
for responsible adult use here in Wisconsin.
As we know, the governor did include these provisions
in his most recent budget and they were stripped out
by the Republican led members
of the Joint Finance Committee.
Had an opportunity to introduce the bill in a hemp field
right here in Dane County,
surrounded by a young family that is supporting themselves
and a number of workers doing their very best
to raise their kids and also invest
in hemp and CBD here in the state of Wisconsin.
And it's been well received by the people of Wisconsin.
We have an awful lot of people calling our office
and cheering us on.
My colleagues in the building are excited
about being able to sign on to the legislation.
One thing missing from that formula,
they're all Democrats.
So despite the fact that we know that even Republicans,
the majority of Republicans in Wisconsin
support responsible adult usage
and do not support cannabis prohibition,
the legislators in this building
that hold the majority of the seats
are not yet ready to add their names to this policy.
Despite the fact that through personal conversations
with many of them, I know that they're curious,
they're interested and a few of them have tipped their hat.
But if it would come to the floor,
they would likely vote for it.
So my hope this session,
there's an awful lot going on in the building.
There's a lot of divisiveness,
but I'm hopeful that we can at least get a public hearing.
I think that would be a big step for this legislation.
And I think that just in a matter of years
that we're gonna be able to get this
across the finish line.
So Senator Felskowski is planning
to reintroduce her medical marijuana bill.
What do you think of that proposal?
Do you think getting that pushed forward
will help eventually get all the way
or is that a half measure at this point?
So devil is in the details with all policy making
and Senator Felskowski has been outspoken
about her support for medicinal cannabis in Wisconsin.
The bill that she introduced last session,
she did hold a public hearing.
It was after the legislature had gabbled out.
So there wasn't a possibility
for it to cross the finish line, so to speak.
But a lot of people showed up at that hearing
with concerns about the way the bill was drafted.
I am not sure if she's changing her bill draft
based on the feedback there,
but I am excited to be able to see what it is
that she introduces when she introduces it here
for legislative consideration.
And I guess I have to hold my powder dry
until I actually see what it is that she's proposing.
So what of the critiques we've heard from Republicans
over the last decade plus that at least
medicinal marijuana has been under discussion here
is that some people view that as the slippery slope,
that they don't want to see full legalization
and they're afraid that medicinal is the measure
that will make it inevitable.
And so they're resistant to even going that far.
So does the presence of your activism
and your tour and your bill make it more difficult,
do you think, to get to medicinal marijuana?
Or is it you're never going to please those people anyway?
How does that work?
You know, as a senator here in the state of Wisconsin,
I know it is my job to lift up the morals and the values
and the dreams and the hopes of the good people
of the state of Wisconsin.
And it is clear, nearly seven out of 10 people
in Wisconsin support responsible adult use policy
for cannabis with the medicinal component.
If any one of my colleagues in this building
won their election by a 70% margin,
they would say it is a landslide.
The people of Wisconsin are ready.
States across our nation, 23 states now,
have legalized for responsible adult usage.
And we are surrounded by three of them,
with Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota.
I think it is time for us to take this step to be bold,
to listen to the people of our communities
and make sure that the will of the people
is in fact the law of the land.
We can support our agricultural heritage.
We can support our main streets.
We can make sure that we're matching up
with young people's priorities
so that we're not exporting them to other states,
but they are staying here.
We can address egregious racial disparities.
And we can be bringing in revenue to the state of Wisconsin
that our local governments are clamoring for.
I'm gonna continue beating the drum,
listening to the people of the state of Wisconsin
and lifting their voices up through this policy initiative.
I know it's not a matter of if this is gonna happen
in Wisconsin, it's a matter of when.
And I wanna make sure that we have the best policy
that addresses the concerns that folks in Wisconsin have,
but also provides real opportunity.
We were in Marinette, checking out the border with Menominee.
We talked with law enforcement and the attorney.
We talked to some of the people
working at the dispensaries in Michigan.
Does the current policy create more problems
in those communities than if we, I mean, obviously,
I'm sure obviously you want full legalization,
but would that resolve some of the issues they're seeing
with the volume of traffic, the people going in and out,
the potential for people to be starting to sample the products
even before they've made it back home?
So we know, thanks to research that was done earlier this year,
even before Minnesota legalized cannabis,
that 50% of adults over the age of 21
live within 75 minutes of illegal dyspensory.
Now, we all know geography in our border with Minnesota
is pretty long.
So the amount of people in Wisconsin
that are 21 and older is going to increase
and the amount of time it's gonna take people
to access illegal dyspensory is going to decrease in 2025
as soon as Minnesota starts opening up those dispensaries.
Certainly having a patchwork quilt of policy
can provide a lot of uncertainty for local communities,
including law enforcement,
but also for businesses that may have businesses located
in Wisconsin as well as in our bordering states.
And I think it is vitally important that we remember
when we had different laws when it came to alcohol access
in there were states that had access at 21
and other states that were 18 and 19 and that did not work.
It did not create a safer society.
It did not protect our children.
It did not make our roads more safe.
I do think that it is vitally important
that we consider how it is to make sure
that Wisconsin is the safest place that it can be,
that we're not causing confusion for people
that there is one set of rules
when your foot is on one side of the border
and a different set of rules
when a foot is on the other side of the border.
Absolutely, we have taken that into consideration
in our most recent draft of the bill
and when I was in Superior recently
meeting with folks up there about cannabis policy,
it was something that they brought up
because they are right on that border
and with Minnesota very recently legalizing cannabis
and moving forward, they are seeing people coming in
and asking more questions at their shops.
They themselves, the local elected officials
are having questions about what they can do
in their communities to protect their friends and neighbors
and their constituents.
And I also had the opportunity to drive to St. Paul
and meet with a number of legislators and policymakers
and advocates in Minnesota who were involved
in passing their law.
And it is clear that many of the things
that they grappled with are similar items
to what it is that I am hearing about on the grassroots tour
and that we've taken into consideration
with our most recent bill draft.
When it comes to law enforcement and to the district attorney,
some of their main concerns have to do
with access for children and the number of kids
that are getting access to gummies and edibles
and other things that aren't traditional marijuana packaging.
There's not just, they're smoking.
There's other things that, and we've seen this
with vape pens and things in the past
where some of these items are not directly,
maybe directly marketed to our kids
but they become more easily accessible to kids.
So what assurances are there in your bill
or in any bill that to make sure that 21 and older
is 21 and older?
Listen, I'm a mom, I've got four kids.
I define myself as a mom more than as a legislator,
a policy maker, I want my kids and all kids to be safe.
That is why we landed on the age of 21
for access to the legal cannabis in the state of Wisconsin.
There is a wildly successful illicit industry
in the state of Wisconsin that allows our kids access
to cannabis without any sort of protections or regulations.
In states that have legalized, it is harder for kids
to get access to the plant
because they are working hard to dampen out
that illicit market.
In the bill that I have drafted,
we have provisions in regards to packaging of cannabis
so that it is not easy in the same way
that when you purchase medication,
it isn't easy for kids to be able to open that up.
We have provisions in the bill in regards to education
within our communities so that we're actually talking
to the kids about the concerns of cannabis consumption
in the same way that we can talk to them about tobacco
and alcohol and other illicit substances in Wisconsin.
So certainly, I wanna make sure that our kids are safe.
That is a big part of why it is
that I'm moving this policy forward.
I think it is important to realize
that there are many law enforcement officers
in Wisconsin and across our nation
that actually believe and know from firsthand experience
that if we did legalize cannabis,
we would be providing more safety and protections
for our kids.
One of the other things that was brought up to me
is the concentration of THC
in some of these dispensary products is extraordinarily high
compared to marijuana that people used to be able to access
through the black market
and that some people are coming to realize
that they're first experienced with an edible
or something like that that, wow,
they can't handle that level.
Is there anything in your bill
or anything that you should be drafting
to look at concentration and make sure people are aware
of like these alcohol is marketed,
people know what beer is versus hard liquor or ever clear.
Does there need to be similar education
or policy for marijuana?
100% and we have taken that into consideration as well
with our bill draft.
I mean, quite frankly, this bill is over 100 pages
and it is full of all sorts of protections
for our state that don't exist because of prohibition
because we do not have protections
and regulations on the books currently.
So making sure that the folks that are selling the product
are licensed and educated
because you hear over and over again
from folks that go into the dispensaries
that they are leaning on the people that are there
for their expertise.
They're guiding many of the consumers
on what it is that they purchase.
Folks come in, they ask questions
and you wanna have an educated person behind the counter.
Additionally, it is vitally important
that the product itself is labeled with dosages
and right now THC is one of the things
that most people are focusing on
when you talk about back in the day.
The ditch weed didn't have the same potency
as what it is that we're seeing in the shops.
I think in most cases people are talking about THC
but there are many other terpenes associated with this plant.
I anticipate with the federal government
changing where it is that this is scheduled potentially.
That we're gonna be seeing more researchers
and scientists looking at this plant.
There's potentially more terpenes
that we don't even know about.
So we do wanna make sure that people are educated,
that there is truth in labeling
and that there is safety for the consumer
when they're walking into the shops.
Sounds like you've visited a legal dispensary recently.
I'm not sure how many times you had to show your ID
before you even got to the counter of those dispensaries
but in most legal dispensaries that I have been in
in legal states you have to show your ID
about three times.
They scan it, they make sure you're of age.
They do have thoughtful conversations and questions.
You're not picking the products off of shelves
like at the grocery store yourself.
You're going to a counter.
You're having a conversation with someone
about what it is that you're purchasing.
They bring it back to you.
It's more like the experience you would have
in an Apple store.
So certainly it is vitally important
that we provide those safeties and the protections
for consumers in the state of Wisconsin as well.
If Senator Felskowski's medicinal marijuana bill
somehow makes it out of committee
through a public hearing gets to the floor,
would you anticipate Democrats supporting that?
Again, the devil's in the details.
Zach, I don't know what the bill is going to say.
If it's the same bill that was introduced
a couple of years ago, people in Wisconsin
were not thrilled with that.
I am hopeful that she's made some changes
and I am excited to be able to see,
if and once she introduces it, what it says.
All right.
Anything else that you want to add along these lines?
You know, I think that we all know
that one of the things I like to say about cannabis is
it's clear that the most dangerous thing about cannabis
in Wisconsin is that it is illegal.
And I know that with thoughtful regulation
that we will be a more safe, more prosperous
and more forward thinking state than what we are right now.
And clearly, the people of Wisconsin
are excited for this to happen, it is past time.
And I'm going to continue making myself available,
engaging with the people in our state
and lifting up their voices and values.
Thanks for your time.
Appreciate it.
So you've got the next leg of the tour.
Is this going to keep going till you touch them all?
Well, I mean, we will, I think.
You've got a lot of cities already.
13 cities at the end of the tour.
So we're going to find a lack in Shabwigan as one day.
So there's multiple stops there.
We've done multiple stops on other parts of it.
But at this point, people, they still want us to come out
and I think it's important that we spend time
in small towns and large towns in Northern Wisconsin.
We're not allowed to have a public hearing in this building.
I may be the minority leader,
but I do not have the power to push a button
and say we're going to have a public hearing on this policy.
And when you have 70% of the people
wanting this to move forward,
the best answer seemed to be
that I would go and meet them where they are at.
So we will see how long it continues.
All right.
Well, thank you.
Can you help take her mic off to serve?
I don't know if sometimes that's tricky when you kiss.