Pubdate: Sun, 30 Dec 2012
Source: Marshfield News-Herald, The (WI)
Copyright: 2012 Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/lFUmYIF0
Website: http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2236
Author: Karen Madden

LOCAL OFFICIALS TO KEEP TABS ON POT LEGALIZATION IN TWO STATES

Central Wisconsin political observers say the vote to legalize 
marijuana in two states could eventually affect Wisconsin.

Lawmakers will be watching to see what happens in Colorado and 
Washington, where residents voted to lift long-standing bans on 
recreational marijuana use, said state Rep. Scott Krug, R-Rome, who 
represents Wisconsin's 72nd Assembly District, and changes in this 
state might be possible.

Krug, who previously served as the Wood County Drug Court 
administrator, said Wisconsin should put more of a focus on drug 
addiction treatment than the current legal system does.

"We spend too much time punishing people by putting them behind bars 
and throwing away the keys," Krug said.

He noted that the state's budget for the prison system is higher than 
that for the university system. Victimless crimes and drug crimes 
aren't necessarily the cases that need to fill up jails and prisons, he said.

Chris Jockheck, chairman of the Wood County Democratic Party, agreed 
Wisconsin should consider addiction to marijuana as something that 
needs treatment, rather than punishment. People's lives are ruined 
because of a felony marijuana conviction, he said.

The legalization of marijuana still is subject to federal law, said 
outgoing state Rep. Louis Molepske Jr., a Democrat from Stevens Point 
who will be sworn in as the new Portage County district attorney in 
January. People in Colorado and Washington have to realize that they 
still can be prosecuted under federal law, he said.

Molepske, a legislator for almost 10 years, said his constituents 
didn't want marijuana legalized. The opinions he heard leaned toward 
legalizing the drug for medical use, but not for recreational, he said.

Molepske is in favor of creating ordinance-level penalties for people 
who get caught with small amounts of marijuana, so that they don't 
have criminal convictions, he said. Portage County has such an 
ordinance, which gives a fine but no criminal conviction for a first 
offense, and it helps give people a small break, he said.

As the newly elected Portage County district attorney, Molepske said 
it's important to remember that marijuana is a drug that can lead to 
other, more potentially addictive and dangerous drugs. He said he 
will aggressively prosecute all drug offenses.

The changes in Colorado and Washington will provide a chance for 
future analysis, should the issue arise in the Legislature, but 
Wisconsin lawmakers have more important issues to face, Jockheck said.

"We have the opportunity to see how two states will be impacted and 
what happens there," Jockheck said.

Jockheck said the two states that have legalized marijuana are 
similar to Wisconsin in that they have large liberal-leaning 
metropolitan areas.

At this point, the legalization of marijuana is a unique situation, 
said Jay Selthofner, co-founder and current treasurer of the Northern 
Wisconsin Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of 
Marijuana Laws.

Although some states and municipalities previously decriminalized 
marijuana, this is the first time legalization has occurred, 
Selthofner said. Decriminalizing means possession goes from being a 
criminal offense, punishable by jail time, to a civil violation, 
punishable with a fine.

"It's very exciting," Selthofner said of the developments in the two states.

Selthofner said NORML does not condone drug use or abuse. However, 
the organization sees the war on drugs as a type of abuse, he said. 
The state should treat marijuana like it does smoking and alcohol - 
regulating and taxing it while using the tax money for combating addiction.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom