Marijuana-like products in Wisconsin; how some sales are allowed

How is CBD legal in Wisconsin?

While marijuana is currently illegal, you can find products made from its cousin, hemp, across Wisconsin.

WAUWATOSA, Wis. - A new bill proposes allowing medical marijuana in Wisconsin, but some people are already legally finding similar products in the state.

While marijuana is currently illegal, you can find products made from its cousin: hemp.

Erin Kelly owns Kelly’s Greens in Wauwatosa, which serves some of the hemp-derived products.

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Erin Kelly at Kelly's Greens

"So many people will come in and say, ‘Well, I’m looking for the real thing.’ And it’s nice to be able to tell them we do have options that can provide them the same relaxation in effects that are offered to them if they are getting gummies at a dispensary in Illinois,'" Kelly said.

The store uses organic Wisconsin hemp to create their products, with results Kelly said you can feel.

"10 mg of delta-9, you can expect a deep euphoric body and head high," Kelly said. "You usually stay at home, no driving. Many people use it to relax, to relieve pain."

She said her cookies and sweets are already similar to those made with marijuana.

"There really isn’t a normal customer," she said. "Everybody is looking for something to either help them relieve pain, anxiety, inflammation or help them sleep. So we see all walks of people who are looking for cannabis for some kind of relief in their life."

Now Wisconsin Assembly Republicans are rolling out their proposal to allow medical marijuana for certain medical conditions and under strict oversight.

But Kelly is questioning what would actually change.

"It wouldn’t be offering people much more benefit than we already have with the farm bill products that we do have," she said.

From the city to the suburbs to the country, you’ll find CBD stores sprouting up thanks to the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill.

It legalized hemp by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act’s definition of marijuana, as long as the delta-9 THC concentration is not more than .3% of the dry weight.

In 2021, the Wisconsin Legislative Council wrote, "... if the conversion of delta-8 THC from hemp-derived CBD renders the substance 'synthetically' derived or 'chemically synthesized,' then it constitutes a Schedule 1 substance under federal and state law. Until regulators or lawmakers provide further clarity, the legality of delta-8 THC appears to depend significantly on the nature and characterization of the process used for its production."

Even with local options for hemp products, Wisconsinites are spending serious green in Illinois.

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates Wisconsinites paid $36 million in Illinois sales tax for marijuana in 2022.

The new Wisconsin proposal would not charge a sales tax.

The medical marijuana bill would charge a license fee of $10,000 dollars for growers and $50,000 for a processor. Patients would pay $100 a year and would have to pick up at one of five state-run dispensaries, not the local stores currently selling hemp products.

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"It seems as though we already have the existing groundwork of professionals that have been working with cannabis products since 2018 right here in Wisconsin in a model that already is providing people these products on a legal basis, and keeping them safe," Kelly said.

"We think having the state control it, as they do in other states for alcohol is probably the best way to ensure that we have it based on the needs of the patients who are sick and not the public who might want recreational," said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Burlington).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that delta-8 THC found in hemp "has psychoactive and intoxicating effects that may be dangerous to consumers and it has not been evaluated or approved by the FDA for safe use in any context, including when added to food."