Green Bay lowers marijuana possession fines

Green Bay is lowering fines for marijuana possession after a Common Council voice vote Tuesday. It’s the latest city in Wisconsin to change its cannabis laws.

Under the proposal approved by the council, people charged with possession of 28 grams or less of marijuana in private and public spaces would only pay court costs, which add up to $61. Previously, possession of that amount could carry up to a $500 fine, not including court costs. Consumption in a public space would still carry a fine, but not private consumption.

A private space is “an area to which the public at large is not invited or permitted, or an area otherwise not accessible by the public, such as a private residence,” according to the original proposal.

The changes also bring paraphernalia possession charges in line with the charges for the possession of marijuana itself.

The council also aligned the city’s underage marijuana possession laws with the state’s underage alcohol laws, after District 8 Alder Chris Wery offered changes to the original proposal. That plan would have set underage possession fines at no more than $100, not including court costs. Under the amended code, on a first offense, underage possession could mean a fine of anywhere between $100 and $200, not including court costs, with those amounts increasing for additional violations of the code in the span of a year.

The changes put Green Bay in line with other Wisconsin communities that have reduced possession fines. Eau Claire, for example, only fines $1 for possession, as does Milwaukee County. Madison does not prosecute on what it calls “simple possession cases.”

Members of the state Legislature unveiled a bipartisan proposal in November to change the state’s marijuana possession laws. That proposal would have set possession fines for up to 14 grams of marijuana at $100 across the state, as opposed to the maximum of a $1,000 fine and six months in jail currently in place. The bill has not received a hearing in either chamber.

Under state law, a second possession of marijuana charge is a felony and carries a possible sentence of up to three and a half years in prison.

Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers have tried several times without success to legalize medical and recreational marijuana in Wisconsin. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have attempted to legalize medical marijuana in the state, but key party leaders such as Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, have said there isn’t enough support in the party for medical marijuana.

Despite the possible possession penalties, Wisconsin residents still cross state borders to buy marijuana from states, such as Illinois, which have legalized recreational marijuana.

In 2019, a Marquette Law School poll found 59 percent of state respondents supported legalizing the use of marijuana.