Madison: Wisconsin’s State Senate passed a statewide K2 ban May 17 on a voice vote. The action means that only one step remains before synthetic cannabinoids marketed as incense under names including K2 and Spice will be as illegal as their natural counterparts in Wisconsin – a floor vote by the State Assembly. That vote is likely to come in the next scheduled floorperiod, which begins June 7. Earlier, the legislation cleared Senate and Assembly committees on unanimous votes.
The push for a statewide ban has been ongoing for more than a year as municipalities and counties began enacting a hodge-podge of bans, with little debate. Hyperbolic rhetoric focusing on a couple isolated incidents portrayed K2 as a deadly scourge that targeted youth. In a state where alcohol related mayhem is a daily occurrence with well over a hundred daily DUI arrests, K2 should not be a major concern. Just like Congress in 1937, Wisconsin elected representatives have failed to do the due diligence or consider the unanticipated consequences of creating new crimes where none existed before. If a bad reaction to a substance is all that is needed to justify locking someone up, what about alcohol?
from captimes.com:
Dear Editor: The Wisconsin and Madison affiliates of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) salute Mayor Paul Soglin and the Madison City Council for honoring the late Madison activist Ben Masel at their May 17 meeting. In addition to other pursuits, Ben was a longtime NORML activist and served as a board member and officer in our group.
Madison alders voted unanimously to adopt a memorializing resolution titled, “Honoring the life of Bennett ‘Ben’ Masel, his contribution to our community and declaring April 20th as ‘Ben Masel Day’ in the City of Madison.”
As many know, April 20 is, not coincidentally, the date on which those who respect cannabis take a day to celebrate the plant and work for its legalization. Celebrating Ben’s life and contributions will make future 4/20s even more special.
Special thanks are due to Ben’s alder, Bridget Maniaci, and District 6 Ald. Marsha Rummel for sponsoring and crafting the inspiring wording of the resolution, as well as council colleagues Mark Clear, Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, Anita Weier, Mike Verveer and Lisa Subeck for cosponsoring.
But while decades of efforts inextricably linked Ben with cannabis and hemp legalization, his advocacy went beyond, including free speech, privacy and the right to assemble. The best way for all of us to honor and remember Ben’s contributions is to make every day Ben Masel Day by joining in continuing his advocacy.
Gary Storck, co-founder
Madison NORML
It is a clear early spring evening, and Jack is walking along the perimeter of his south Madison property, pointing out where he grows marijuana. “You really have to look to see it,” says Jack, a pseudonym.
Jack is middle-aged, with trimmed, spiky gray-white hair and fluid, animated gestures; there is something slightly Steve Martin-adorable about him. A playful golden retriever nuzzles his hand, trying to get his attention. He lives in a beige, vinyl-sided house near a golf course, next door to a house that boasts a Prosser lawn sign, from the recent Supreme Court race.
“We cancel out each other’s votes,” he jokes, nodding in the direction of his neighbor’s house. Jack thinks some of his neighbors “may have a clue” that he grows pot in his backyard, but doesn’t seem too worried. He tells a story of a time when the neighbor’s new puppy was romping around his 10-by-10-foot garden plot, but no one said anything about the pot stalks mixed in with other plants.
“I trim them,” Jack explains, “It just looks like another tomato plant.”
Jack is one of an undetermined number of Madison-area residents who grow marijuana at their residence. The police aren’t willing to hazard a guess, but one active grower estimates there are at least 300 home-growers in Dane County — on a par with the number of area dentists.
