As lawmakers debated cannabis policy in the last legislative session, Wisconsinites have every reason to approach full recreational legalization with deep skepticism. While some on the left tout it as a progressive panacea with bloated revenue projections and claims of reduced crime, the track record in states that rushed ahead tells a different story.
From Colorado to California and Oregon, the experiment has produced declining tax hauls far below hype, a surge in psychological harm among young people, persistent black markets, and increases in traffic deaths and emergency room visits. Wisconsin’s Republican-led legislature wisely began the conversation by pursuing a narrow, regulated pathway for medicinal marijuana only. That measured approach deserves strong consideration, even as lawmakers resist the siren song of widespread recreational sales that would expose our families, roads, and budget to the same pitfalls seen elsewhere.
Sarah Godlewski put out her latest cringe video on 4/20, encouraging legalization.
Start with the fiscal fantasy. Proponents in early-legalizing states promised a windfall to fund schools, infrastructure, and social programs without raising taxes on working families. Reality has been far less rosy. In Colorado, then-Governor John Hickenlooper predicted over $130 million in the first year of recreational sales; the state actually collected about $88 million, even though it charges three different taxes on legal weed and recently eliminated shared tax revenue with local governments due to budget shortfalls.
Wisconsin taxpayers, already squeezed by Bidenflation and Governor Evers’ 400-year property tax increase, deserve better than betting our budget on a commodity whose revenues reliably disappoint.
By fiscal year 2024-25, marijuana tax revenue had fallen to $231.1 million—45.5 percent below its 2020-21 peak—thanks to falling prices, market saturation from other states’ legalization, and competition from intoxicating hemp products. Sales in 2025 hit just $1.3 billion, the lowest since the market opened in 2016.
California fared no better: early projections of $1 billion in new revenue annually yielded less than a third of that in the first full year, and sales and taxes are now slowing as the market matures.
Closer to home, recent figures on Illinois legalized recreational cannabis reveal a clear slowdown and the first annual drop in sales revenue—undermining the “cash cow” narrative pushed by proponents. Average prices in Illinois fell sharply due to competition from hemp-derived products and lingering black-market activity. Tax revenue from marijuana sales is allocated to funds for criminal justice, community reinvestment, general revenue, and drug treatment, but the overall contribution remains a small slice of the state budget—far from the transformative windfall promised during legalization debates.
These shortfalls aren’t anomalies; they’re the predictable result of an industry that undercuts its own pricing power while generating hidden public health and enforcement costs that eat into any “surplus.” Wisconsin taxpayers, already squeezed by Bidenflation and Governor Evers’ 400-year property tax increase, deserve better than betting our budget on a commodity whose revenues reliably disappoint.
Even more alarming is the toll on younger Americans. Far from the benign “plant medicine” narrative, widespread availability has correlated with sharp rises in cannabis use disorder and severe mental health consequences among teens and young adults. Adolescents reporting past-year cannabis use face roughly double the risk of developing psychotic disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder by their mid-20s, along with elevated chances of depression and anxiety.
The developing brain, still wiring itself through the mid-20s, is particularly vulnerable. Early and frequent use links to structural changes, higher rates of psychosis, scream-vomiting, and long-term cognitive impairment. Emergency departments have seen spikes in cannabis-related psychiatric crises post-legalization. States with mature markets report increased hospitalizations and youth exposure. Normalizing potent, high-THC products sends the wrong message to kids: if it is legal and everywhere, it must be safe. The data proves otherwise, fueling a mental health epidemic that strains families, schools, and our overburdened health care system. Wisconsin should not worsen the mental health crisis.
The broader fallout extends beyond wallets and psyches. Legal markets have not eliminated the black market as promised; it thrives alongside licensed outlets, often undercutting them on price. Traffic safety has suffered in several states, with studies linking recreational legalization to a roughly 10 percent average increase in motor vehicle deaths in affected jurisdictions—jumps of 16 percent in Colorado, 22 percent in Oregon, and 14 percent in California.
Drugged-driving incidents rose as impairment testing lagged and cultural attitudes shifted. Some cities saw links between dispensary proliferation and localized crime spikes. Homelessness trends in places like Denver worsened amid the broader normalization of substance use. These are not abstract statistics; they represent real victims—families shattered by preventable accidents, neighborhoods dealing with unchecked externalities, and law enforcement slow to adjust and unable to keep up with the new reality.
None of this means Wisconsin should ignore patients who could benefit from cannabis-derived relief. That’s why Wisconsin Republicans, led by Senators Mary Felzkowski and Patrick Testin, have advanced a targeted medical marijuana bill. Introduced in late 2025 and advanced by the Senate Health Committee in early 2026, the proposal creates a tightly regulated program limited to non-smokable forms—oils, tinctures, edibles, and the like—for patients with qualifying conditions. It establishes an Office of Medical Cannabis Regulation under the Department of Health Services, licenses private growers, processors, labs, and dispensaries, and prioritizes safety and oversight.
This isn’t blanket legalization; it’s evidence-based access without flooding the state with recreational pot shops on every corner. Democrats’ push for full adult-use sales, by contrast, risks repeating the mistakes of our neighbors while ignoring the data.
Wisconsin has a choice: chase the false promises that have disappointed other states, or chart a prudent course rooted in fiscal reality, family protection, and limited government intervention that truly helps the vulnerable. The evidence from legalized states is clear: recreational marijuana delivers less revenue than advertised, exacts a heavy psychological price on the young, and imposes uncounted societal burdens. Our Republican leaders’ focus on a narrow medicinal pathway strikes the right balance. Lawmakers should pass it swiftly while drawing a firm line against broader commercialization. Wisconsin’s future—our kids’ mental health, our roads’ safety, and our taxpayers’ dollars—depends on learning from others’ errors rather than repeating them.
