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On Politics: State Rep. Melissa Sargent wants to legalize marijuana

By Dee J. Hall | Wisconsin State Journal | Dhall@madison.Com | 608-252-6132 - | Jan 24, 2014
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Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, wants to legalize marijuana in Wisconsin 

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Marijuana (copy)
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Marijuana

Taking a cue from Colorado and Washington, Rep. Melissa Sargent said Thursday that Wisconsin should legalize marijuana for all purposes, including recreational smoking.

Sargent, D-Madison, began seeking co-sponsors for a bill that would end criminal penalties for pot possession.

“This is a tide that’s turning in our country,” Sargent said.

“It’s not a question of whether this will happen, it’s when,” she said.

Sargent said she hasn’t spoken with any Republican lawmakers, who run both chambers of the Legislature, and has just started selling the idea to her Democratic colleagues.

The Madison lawmaker said she was motivated in part by the fact that Wisconsin has the fifth-highest racial disparity between blacks and whites when it comes to marijuana-related arrests. Decriminalizing marijuana, she said, would save time and money for law enforcement, and taxing it would raise revenues for the state.

Sargent noted that Colorado is projecting billions of dollars in additional revenue because of the direct and spin-off effects of legalizing marijuana.

“The facts clearly show that legalization is right for Wisconsin and that the most dangerous thing about marijuana is that it’s illegal,” she said.

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