APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Appleton Common Council approved an advisory referendum related to legalizing marijuana Wednesday night.
The approval means that the advisory referendum will appear on November’s ballot.
The decision was nine to four.
The move doesn’t make marijuana legal in the city, and not everyone is on board with the referendum.
But what do Appleton residents think of legalizing marijuana and regulating it similar to alcohol?
They will be answering that question as part of a referendum on the November ballot.
District 13 Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim thinks having a referendum is unnecessary.
“There’s a lot of data already available for state legislatures to make a decision on whether to legalize marijuana in the state of Wisconsin,” Hartzheim said.
She says valid data already exists.
“We already have Marquette University Law School polls that are very technical and highly valid that show 61% of Wisconsinites are in favor of this, so what more can we gain from that?” questioned Hartzheim.
But there’s a larger issue she has with how the referendum may be received by those at the polls, adding that it’s ultimately up to the state legislature to make the decision on legalizing marijuana.
There was a hearing in April on the issue, but there are no legislative sessions scheduled until 2023.
“If this comes to the polls, we will have a very uneducated general public,” said Hartzheim. “For instance, the Appleton Area School District has spent lots of time and energy to educate voters about their upcoming referendum. We’ve done none of that.”
District 2 Alderperson Vered Meltzer says it wouldn’t confuse voters.
“I’m very satisfied with the language that specifically makes it very clear it’s talking about state level legalization and what people’s opinions are,” Meltzer said.
Meltzer says it won’t mislead anyone into thinking some type of action will be taken.
“We are not debating whether or not to legalize marijuana in Appleton,” Meltzer added. “So, any discussion of that nature should not be happening tonight.”
In 2018, voters in 16 Wisconsin counties were in favor of legalizing the drug for medical and recreational use, but state law didn’t change.
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