skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Rep. Sargent: Serious about Legalizing Marijuana in WI

play audio
Play

Wednesday, February 12, 2014   

MADISON, Wis. - Since she introduced legislation to legalize marijuana possession and use late last month, state Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, says her phone has been ringing constantly.

"The majority of the calls that we have been receiving in my office since the introduction of this bill are not people that are living in my district,” she said, “but they are people that live across Wisconsin that actually start out as if they are in a confessional, saying, 'I wouldn't have ever voted for you - you have a 'D' next to your name - but this is something that we need to do.' "

Sargent expected opposition to the bill, but said it would provide additional revenue for the state, would mean time and cost-savings for law enforcement, and would help address Wisconsin's huge racial disparity in marijuana arrests. Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, has introduced legislation to step up enforcement of marijuana offenses, but Sargent said she believes the thinking that marijuana is a dangerous "gateway drug" is outmoded.

"I think we've created that narrative,” she said. “It was put on a list of very dangerous drugs at the federal level, and we needed to have a reason for it being there. We had to create that narrative."

Some are skeptical of her claim that legalization would create more jobs in Wisconsin, but she pointed out that local manufacturers already produce equipment for legal grow operations in other states.

"Those are real jobs at real companies in Wisconsin that are sending the equipment that they are producing out of the state,” she said. “I know that if we created this legalization in our state, we would be creating jobs. These are businesses that pay their employees well.

"It's not the government's business to tell us what to do in the privacy of our homes,” she said. “We as individual citizens of our country should have personal choice, and that personal choice, I think - one of the lines that I feel through my tens of thousands of conversations that I've had with people across Wisconsin - is, 'Are you hurting yourself and other people in your community, or is it just that it might be offensive to someone else?' "

Sargent said her extensive research for the bill has shown, in her words, "The most dangerous thing about marijuana is that it's illegal."

The text of Sargent’s bill, LRB 3671, is online at jayselthofner.com. Thiesfeldt's legislation, SB150/AB164, is at docs.legis.wisconsin.gov.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021