Wisconsin, a neighboring state of Illinois, which began recreational marijuana sales back on January 1st, will continue to monitor the potential effects of the latter’s adult-use marijuana space.
Local law enforcement officials in Wisconsin say they have not yet seen any major impacts in the state.
According to officials with the Rock County Sheriff’s Office and police departments in Janesville and Beloit, there has not been any rise in marijuana possession charges this year.
“It’s such an anomaly year that I don’t know if we can draw any conclusions as to the impact at this point, but we’ll keep an eye on it,” remarked Sgt. Mark Ratzlaff, who is in charge of Janesville Police Department’s Street Crimes Unit.
It was about a year ago that Wisconsin State and local officials said they would monitor the drug, which remains illegal in Wisconsin. The move was to see if any major effects are noticed. So far the impacts have been minimal said several southern Wisconsin communities.
According to Cmdr. Jude Maurer, arrests and citations fluctuate from year to year and so far the department has not had to make any changes to operations related to marijuana.
“There might have been a handful at most, of people who were arrested for possession of marijuana that said they got it legally in Illinois,” said Beloit Police Inspector Thomas Stigler. “It’s had a very minimal impact.”
Wisconsin could see the topic of marijuana legalization discussed by the state’s government in 2021. Currently both medicinal and recreational marijuana are illegal.