Northeast Wisconsinites: Legalize medical marijuana

WASHINGTON – If it were up to northeast Wisconsinites, medical marijuana would be legal.

A recent survey of more than 4,600 residents in the state’s 8th Congressional District, which stretches from Door County through Green Bay and Appleton, found a whopping 74 % believe it has real therapeutic properties and should be available for medical use.

Some 41 % of those say it should require a prescription, while the other 33 % say it should be sold over the counter.

“The laws are way out of tune with modern science,” wrote one Sturgeon Bay respondent who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and wants access to cannabidiol, a cannabis extract that can decrease inflammation.

“It should be as legal/optional as growing and eating tomatoes,” a Green Bay woman said.

The survey is not scientific — it was conducted by Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Sherwood, and only went to residents who receive his constituent newsletter. Respondents did not consent to being publicly identified by name.

But the sample size is significant, and the results provide a revealing glimpse of attitudes toward marijuana in the area at a time when cities across Wisconsin increasingly have loosened their approach to the drug. The Menominee tribe voted in August to legalize medicinal and recreational marijuana use on its reservation near Shawano.

RELATED: Speaking out on marijuana: What northeast Wisconsinites had to say.

Last year, the state legislature passed and Gov. Scott Walker signed into law a bill allowing the use of cannabidiol for seizure disorders. This year, state Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, introduced a bill that would legalize marijuana in the state, including for recreational use, though it has slim chance of passage.

The survey shows northeast Wisconsinites are effectively split on going that far, with 43 percent in favor of recreational marijuana and 46 percent opposed. A solid 20 percent of those are adamantly against it, saying it is “illegal, immoral and dangerous.” The remainder didn’t offer an opinion.

“I am totally convinced that marijuana is a dangerous, addicting, gateway drug that should be outlawed everywhere without exception,” said a New Franken resident with more than a decade of experience in law enforcement.

Ribble regularly surveys constituents on a range of issues, but he said he received significantly more responses than usual to this one. He normally receives about 3,000, but with the marijuana questionnaire, 4,649 residents took the time to respond.

“We struck a chord with this survey,” Ribble said.

He is in favor of legalizing medical marijuana and co-sponsored a measure that passed the House earlier this year that seeks to prohibit the Department of Justice from prosecuting marijuana offenses in states that have legalized it. Personally, Ribble is against legalizing recreational marijuana.

“I’m not sure it’s a great thing to have more stoned people walking around,” he said.

But he believes the federal government should legalize medicinal and recreational marijuana and let individual states decide what to do within their borders. That jibes with a majority of his constituents, 53 percent of whom said they feel that way.

There was little differentiation of opinion based on where people live. Roughly 78 percent of Green Bay residents favor legalizing medical marijuana, while 76 percent of Appleton residents support it. When it comes to opposition to recreational marijuana, 19 percent of Appleton residents and 18 percent of Green Bay residents said it is “illegal, immoral and dangerous.”

The survey also asked about federal prosecution and sentencing for marijuana crimes. Only 12 percent of residents across the congressional district approve of the Obama administration’s current approach.

Another 12 percent think the federal government is going too easy on marijuana offenses, while 24 percent say offenders are punished “much too harshly.” The bulk of the remainder — 41 percent — say there should be no federal penalties and states should be left to decide punishments.

At this point, it seems there will be little change in marijuana policy, at least on the state level. The bill Sargent introduced in the spring — which would allow Wisconsin residents to possess up to a half ounce of marijuana and visitors to have up to a quarter ounce — has stalled in committee and has only drawn Democratic co-sponsors in the Republican-controlled Assembly.

Sargent said Republicans say it’s “just not a priority” and they have “other things to work on.”

“Well, I don’t know what they’re working on because certainly middle class families are hurting and we’re not moving our state forward in the way that we need to,” she said. “I see this as a path to improving conditions for a lot of people.”

Contact dslack@usatoday.com. Follow @donovanslack.