Marijuana question: Brown County voters could see two advisory referendums on ballot

Doug Schneider | Green Bay Press Gazette

Show Caption Hide Caption Pot's surprising history From ancient China to 420, pot has come a long way.

GREEN BAY - Brown County voters could find not one, but two, questions about marijuana on their election ballots on Nov. 6.

A committee of county supervisors recommended that the full board consider putting two advisory referendums before county voters. One would ask if the voter supported legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.

The other would ask if they support legalization for recreational reasons.

The recommendation came after more than 20 people — a number of whom spoke about how cannabis has or could help alleviate chronic pain — encouraged supervisors to ask voters if they support legalization.

Many of the people who jammed the meeting room brought pre-printed signs, including one bearing a leaf insignia and the slogan: "Wisconsin. Legalize-Regulate-Educate-Medicate."

"While this debate keeps moldering along, I had a night last night where I couldn't sleep because my hands feel like I punched concrete walls," said Larry Peters, a retired Green Bay Metro Transit mechanic who has multiple sclerosis.

Peters said doctors had him in traction, gave him MRIs and administered a spinal tap to address pain issues that left him barely able to stand. But the only time has been able to sleep well, he said, "is when I visited a friend in Colorado and tried his medical cannabis."

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Colorado is one of 29 states, plus the District of Columbia, where medical marijuana is legal. It also allows recreational use, as do either other states and Washington, D.C.

Local supporters acknowledge that a Brown County vote would not change the law in Wisconsin, where marijuana is illegal. They hope it might send a message to lawmakers in Madison that a number of people believe it's time for those laws to change, and that a change could increase the flow of tax dollars and ease burdens on property-owners.

"The people behind me are our bosses," Ashwaubenon Supervisor Alex Tran, who proposed the referendum,said in reference to constituents who'd spoken in favor of the referendum. "Imagine the tax dollars that could come in to help us … let the people have a voice."

Tran initially asked her colleagues to approve a question asking simply if voters support legalizing marijuana use by persons 21 and older. She proposed having counties tax marijuana sales and use the income to address unfunded mandates — requirements imposed on local government by the state without financial support.

The committee's majority on Monday was intent on allowing voters to draw a distinction between using a marijuana derivative like cannabidiol, which can be used to treat anxiety and chronic pain, and smoking or consuming an "edible" purely for recreational purposes.

"I'm sure there's a lot of people who would be for legalization of the medical (marijuana)," while opposing legalizing it for recreational purposes, said Suamico Supervisor Tom Lund.

The proposal goes to the 26-member County Board next week for a vote to determine if the questions go on the November ballot. Fourteen votes are needed for passage.

Tran said she believes the measure has at least nine or 10 supporters, though a number of board members have yet to share their feelings publicly. The board's progressives say legalizing pot in certain circumstances would help reduce jail crowding, reduce the need to house prisoners in other counties and save millions of dollars expanding the county jail.

Several supervisors, including Board Chairman Patrick Moynihan Jr. have said they opposed placing a marijuana question on the November ballot, in part because the county can't change state law.

Others say their minds remain open.

"My intention tonight had been to vote against this," said Wrightstown Supervisor John Van Dyck. He then abstained, as did Green Bay Supervisor Bernie Erickson, saying the question was not a county issue.

Erickson said he opposes recreational marijuana use, but is open to allowing medical use. He also wants input from the Brown County sheriff's office before he votes.

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Lund and Green Bay supervisors Erik Hoyer and Tom Sieber voted in favor of placing advisory questions on the ballot. Moynihan and Green Bay Supervisor Patrick Buckley voted no.

Only one person Monday did not strongly support the proposed referendum. Former Green Bay Alderman David Boyce gave supervisors a book about legalizing marijuana, then said opening the door to legalization could make existing problems worse.

"Green Bay already has a reputation because of alcohol (abuse)," he said. "I have concerns about combining both cultures legally."

But Laura Kiefert, a 63-year-old grandmother from Howard, said she and others who support legalization aren't doing so for the high, but because it would address their chronic and several medical issues with many fewer risks and side-effects than using prescriptionopioids and other treatments.

"I'm left wondering how different my life might have been over the past 16 years, or how different future my future might be, with the benefit of legal medical cannabis," said Kiefert, who has glaucoma and diabetic peripheral neuropathy, which causes agonizing pain in her feet and lower legs.

"One final point," she added. "Nobody I know who's advocating for Brown County to add this … is doing so because they are potheads who walk around in a purple haze, and want to bring more drugs into this community."

Milwaukee County voters will have a referendum on their ballots asking about recreational marijuana use by adults. Similar referendums have been proposed by elected officials in Dane, La Crosse and Rock counties, and lawmakers in Walworth and other other counties are considering similar proposals.

Canada in June approved legislation making recreational marijuana use legal. The law is expected to go into effect in September.

If the board wants a referendum question on the November ballot, it must make the decision to add it no later than August.

There's already one advisory referendum on county ballots this fall.

The county plans to ask voters for support in pushing state lawmakers to close the "dark stores" loophole in tax law. The law allows retail businesses to be taxed at the same rate as that of stories that are non-operational and, in some cases, have been closed for years. Advocates say that unfairly shifts the tax burden to homeowners.