Voters endorse medical marijuana

Election day in 2018 was a big win for marijuana legalization around the U.S. Wisconsin voters in many counties showed up in major support for marijuana policy reform, however there were no ballot initiatives to change the law, only non-binding advisory referendums. 16 counties across the state overwhelmingly said they approved of changing the local marijuana laws, 10 of which were specifically targeted at medical marijuana while the remaining 6 were about ending prohibition altogether. Though these votes did not change the law in Wisconsin, advocates hope it sends a message to the legislature about what the people want and who they will be supporting in upcoming elections. The governor-elect Tony Evers of Wisconsin has shown that he supports marijuana policy reform and will be meeting about potential legislation soon. 

"I think it puts a lot of pressure onto the state legislature which didn't change majorities and is generally kind of against the idea. It does put a lot of pressure on them as we get closer to 2020," said Wendy Scattergood, assistant professor of political science at Saint Norbert College.