The Democratic and Republican nominees to be the next governor of Wisconsin agree that marijuana should be legalized for some uses—but they disagree on how far the state should move toward cannabis reform and how fast.
Democrat David Crowley and Republican Tom Tiffany were asked whether they support legalizing recreational marijuana during a debate on Wednesday.
“I believe we should start with medicinal marijuana,” Tiffany, who currently serves in the U.S. House, said. “I’ve talked to veterans and others with chronic pain, and we should do that. I believe should take a step-by-step approach.”
“I voted for additional funding for marijuana research in Congress, and I want to see the results of that research,” he said, referring to cannabis research legislation that passed Congress and was signed into law by then-President Joe Biden in 2022. “And I think that can help states guide them in deciding how they want to address this issue.”
When pressed whether he is open to legalizing marijuana more broadly for adult use, the GOP congressman didn’t directly answer, saying that “we’re going to start with medicinal, and then we’ll take a step-by-step approach.”
In contrast, Crowley, who currently serves as the Milwaukee County executive, has regularly discussed his support for recreational marijuana legalization.
He was asked at the debate about what guardrails he would want to see in cannabis legislation.
“We have to make sure that we have guardrails in place. We have to protect our children,” he said. “We want to make sure that all the labels are clearly identifiable, making sure that people know exactly what’s in their product.”
“We have to go towards full legalization because this is opportunity that we’re missing out on as a state,” Crowley said.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) “literally thanks Wisconsin residents because they have made $30 million in in sales tax collection just from Wisconsin residents,” he said.
The Illinois governor quipped during his 2020 State of the State address that the state’s legal cannabis program would attract buyers from nearby states. The following year, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) said he is getting “tired” of hearing about Illinois’s cannabis sales figures, joking that Pritzker always “thanks me for having Wisconsinites cross the border to buy marijuana.”
Crowley said during Wednesday’s debate that “if we were to go to full legalization, we could bring in anywhere between $80-170 million, helping to invest in healthcare all across the state of Wisconsin without allowing our money—nor these opportunities—to go to Illinois, Minnesota or Michigan.”
Crowley said earlier this month that Wisconsin should legalize marijuana to raise revenue that can be used to fund free pre-kindergarten education and an expansion of healthcare access.
Tiffany, for his part, has previously said that he prefers to “take a go-slow approach” on marijuana “because we’ve seen some states that went straight to it, like I think about Colorado, and they had some real problems as a result of that.”
Tiffany voted against bills to federally legalize marijuana on the House floor in 2020 and 2022, as well as an amendment in 2020 to shield state recreational cannabis laws from federal interference. He also opposed a bill to increase marijuana businesses’ access to banking services in 2021.
Meanwhile, a Democratic congressman who represents Wisconsin recently told Marijuana Moment that he thinks the state is poised to legalize cannabis as soon as next year—especially if his party wins control of the legislature in the November elections, but perhaps even if Republicans maintain a majority under new leadership for the 2027 session.
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) said there’s a “really good chance” of legalizing cannabis in Wisconsin in the short term if Democrats can “flip the legislature,” where marijuana reform proposals have stalled under Republican control in recent sessions.
Pocan said, however, that he thinks cannabis legislation has a shot even if the GOP stays in control under an expected new leader in the state Assembly who is seen as more friendly to reform than the current speaker of the chamber.
Evers and Democratic lawmakers have pushed to legalize marijuana for recreational and medical purposes for years, but those proposals have been blocked by the legislature’s Republican majority.
A limited medical cannabis bill did clear one committee this session, but did not advance further.
Crowley said at a forum hosted by a cannabis reform group earlier this year reform supporters “cannot wait until after the governor’s election” to push the issue, arguing that they need to “organize in making this one of the top priorities in this upcoming election.”
“If you can’t change minds, you have to change faces,” he said. “I want you all to know that we’re going to work directly with you and make sure that you have a seat at the table, because if you don’t have a seat at the table, that means you’re on it.”
Evers, for his part, recently sent a letter calling on the state’s congressional delegation to “prevent mass disruption of the hemp industry” by stopping the planned federal recriminalization of hemp THC products that’s set to take effect later this year.
The governor has repeatedly pushed for broader reform—including marijuana legalization in multiple budget requests, for example—but efforts to enact it have consistently stalled out in the Republican-controlled Assembly and Senate even as adult-use markets have come online in neighboring states such as Illinois and Michigan.
Evers said last year that if his party can take control of the legislature, the state can “finally” legalize marijuana so that residents don’t have to go to neighboring Illinois to visit its adult-use market.
—
Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—
Democratic lawmakers filed legislation in the 2026 session to broadly legalize and regulate marijuana, and bipartisan legislation to simply decriminalize cannabis possession was also filed—but neither proposal advanced.
A poll released last year by Marquette Law School found that two in three Wisconsin voters support legalizing marijuana.
A legislative analysis requested by lawmakers estimated that Wisconsin residents spent more than $121 million on cannabis in Illinois alone in 2022, contributing $36 million in tax revenue to the neighboring state.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Revenue released a fiscal estimate of the economic impact of a legalization bill in 2023, projecting that the reform would generate nearly $170 million annually in tax revenue.
Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.
Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.
