Last week, both sides of the political aisle in Wisconsin joined forces to create a Marijuana reform bill.
Local Representatives Paul Tittl of Manitowoc and Shae Sortwell put their names on the bill, which according to Sortwell, would decriminalize the possession of a small amount of the popular drug.
“It certainly decriminalizes the small amounts, under 14 grams or half an ounce, but then another critical piece it has, is anything under an ounce, it eliminates the repeat offense enhancement,” Sortwell explained. “Or if it’s between half an ounce and a full ounce, that’s still a misdemeanor level like it is under current law, but it would stay at a misdemeanor. It wouldn’t jump up to a felony.”
Sortwell explained that they spoke with law enforcement prior to introducing the bill, and for the most part, they were on board.
“We originally had taken out any kind of violation penalty for paraphernalia, pipes, etc. We did put that back in because they said that was for an investigative tool,” Sortwell said. “Since it was just for an investigative tool, we left the penalty quite low, because they wanted to look into things a little bit further.”
The bill also will ease the stress on the court systems.
“[Police] literally get their information, hand them a ticket, and if someone doesn’t want to contest it, just like a speeding ticket, you say no contest, mail in the fine and you call it a day,” Sortwell explained. “That will really free up our courts in a lot of the state.”
Representatives Shae Sortwell and Sylvia Ortiz-Valez
The Republican Sortwell also said that he has been working on this bill for the past couple of years, and was able to bring both sides together thanks to the cooperation of Milwaukee Democrat Sylvia Ortiz-Velez.
Sortwell said of Representative Ortiz-Valez, “She has really been very common sense about a whole lot of stuff. I appreciate working with her.”
