When it comes to legal weed, we’re all alone up here. In fact, we’re the only state around that doesn’t allow legal sales for recreational Marijuana. It’s got a lot of citizens and lawmakers making noise about it.
Here’s Five Fast Facts about the discussion surrounding Marijuana in Wisconsin:
- 🌿 Last One - As of August 1, every state that borders Wisconsin has legalized Marijuana, with Minnesota being the latest. That means that half of all Wisconsinites age 21 and older live within a 75-minute drive to a recreational dispensary.
- 🚬 To the South - Illinois pulled in $1.5B in sales in 2022, with about 15% of that coming from counties bordering Wisconsin. Even better, half of those sales are from out-of-state residents. In total, Wisconsinites contributed around $36M of the $462m in tax revenue that Illinois pulled in.
- 😶🌫️ To the East - As for Michigan? There was over $2B spent on weed by in- and out-of-state residents. The money was (supposedly) used to fund K-12 education and infrastructure.
- 🖋️ Narcs - Legalization’s biggest hurdle is the Republicans in the state legislature. Gov. Evers included legalization in all three budgets he’s put out. Republicans got rid of them, fast. They keep saying they’ll make a medical exception, but there’s been no sign of that.
- 😮💨 Majority Rules - In October, 64% of voters in Wisconsin (including 43% of Republicans) wanted Marijuana legalized. A 2019 poll showed that 83% of Wisconsinites wanted medical marijuana.
🔥Bottom line: We’re not advocating for legal weed, but the amount of money that’s coming from Wisconsin and going to other states could represent a missed opportunity on the part of lawmakers. For whatever reason, this is another case of lawmakers not listening to most of the people who elected them. Clearly there’s a desire there and clearly this would be a massive economic boost for the state.
What do you think about legalization? Would it be good for Wisconsin’s Paychecks?
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