Wisconsin Cannabis News: Bills, Hemp Deadline, and Rescheduling

Marijuana is illegal in Wisconsin for both recreational and medical use, making it one of the few remaining states with no legal cannabis program of any kind. Wisconsin marijuana laws prohibit the manufacture, distribution, delivery, and possession of cannabis, with penalties running from a civil forfeiture of up to $250 for low-level possession to felony charges for larger amounts or any distribution.¹ Several bills in Madison and a federal rescheduling order could change parts of this picture, but as of now, nothing in state law has moved.

What Possession Looks Like Under State Law

State law treats cannabis as a controlled substance. First-offense simple possession can be charged as a civil forfeiture of up to $250. Larger quantities, repeat offenses, and any sale or delivery escalate quickly into misdemeanor and felony territory.¹

There is no medical cannabis program. A doctor cannot write a recommendation that gives you legal cover in Wisconsin, and a medical card from another state does not protect you here. The only cannabis-derived products currently sold legally are certain hemp-derived items, discussed below, and that category is itself about to narrow sharply.

Cities and Counties Where Penalties Are Lower

More than a dozen Wisconsin municipalities have passed local ordinances that reduce the penalty for small-scale possession within city or county limits. These ordinances do not override state law. A sheriff’s deputy or state trooper can still cite or arrest you under the state statute, and the county district attorney can still prosecute. What the local ordinance changes is how city police handle the situation and what fine applies when the matter is charged locally.

In Madison, the ordinance sets a $1 fine for possession of up to 28 grams, and the police department has adopted a written policy telling officers not to initiate an investigation based solely on suspected possession within those limits. The Dane County District Attorney’s Office does not prosecute simple possession absent extenuating circumstances.²

Other jurisdictions with reduced local penalties include Milwaukee ($50 for up to 25 grams), Green Bay ($1 to $500 for up to 28 grams), Kenosha ($1 for up to 25 grams), La Crosse County ($1 for up to 25 grams, adopted in October 2025), Stevens Point ($5 for up to 25 grams), and Eau Claire ($100 to $500 for up to 25 grams).³ Milwaukee County’s Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance in 2021 reducing the fine for marijuana and paraphernalia possession to no more than one dollar.⁴

Outside these jurisdictions, state penalties apply in full.

Hemp-Derived THC Products and the November 2026 Deadline

Since the 2018 federal Farm Bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, Wisconsin businesses have sold THC gummies, beverages, vapes, and edibles derived from hemp. The industry grew into an estimated $700 million market supporting roughly 3,500 jobs in the state.⁵ These products have been legal to buy and sell in Wisconsin even though marijuana itself is not.

That changes on November 12, 2026. In late 2025, Congress passed a stopgap spending bill that redefines hemp using a “total THC” standard of no more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis and caps finished products at 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. The law also excludes synthetic cannabinoids and cannabinoids made outside the plant, which targets conversion processes such as turning CBD into delta-8 THC. Products that exceed those limits revert to Schedule I status under federal law.⁶

Steve Hampton, owner of Steve’s Hemp in Wisconsin, called the 0.4-milligram threshold “biologically impossible” and said it would wipe out 99% of the industry.⁵ The U.S. Hemp Roundtable estimated the cap could eliminate 95% of the hemp industry nationally.⁷

If you currently buy hemp-derived THC products at a Wisconsin retailer, expect the selection to shrink substantially before the end of 2026, and expect most intoxicating products to disappear from shelves unless state law intervenes first.

The State Hemp Bills in Play

Wisconsin lawmakers have introduced competing responses to the federal deadline:

SB 682, authored by Senator Patrick Testin with bipartisan support, would restrict sales to adults 21 and older, cap THC at 10 milligrams per serving for beverages, require independent third-party lab testing, and mandate child-resistant packaging with QR codes linking to test results. A public hearing was held before the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Revenue on January 8, 2026.⁸⁹
AB 503, a Republican-backed bill, would mirror the federal ban by redefining hemp based on total THC content, making most hemp-derived THC products illegal under state law.⁵
SB 644, a Democratic bill, focuses narrowly on establishing age limits for hemp products.¹⁰
SB 681, from Senator Eric Wimberger, would classify hemp-derived products as alcohol and regulate them under the state’s alcohol framework. Senator Testin publicly called the approach “deader than dead,” arguing it would shut down existing businesses because of Wisconsin’s restrictions on vertical integration in alcohol.⁸

Testin described the current hemp regulatory climate as “clear as mud.”¹⁰ None of these bills has become law.

Bills That Would Change the Underlying Marijuana Law

Two major cannabis bills moved through the 2025–2026 session, one from each party, and both represent paths the law did not take.

SB 1045 (Democratic Legalization Bill)

Introduced on February 24, 2026, by 14 of the state Senate’s 15 Democrats and 33 Democratic Assembly members, SB 1045 would have legalized possession of up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis flower in public and up to five pounds in a private residence for adults 21 and older. It also proposed a medical cannabis program for patients 18 and older with qualifying conditions, including cancer, PTSD, severe chronic pain, epilepsy, Crohn’s disease, and opioid addiction. Minors could have accessed the program with a guardian’s consent.¹ The bill also provided for expunging or adjusting past convictions for conduct that would have become legal.¹¹

SB 1045 was referred to committee and never received a vote. It failed on March 23, 2026, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1.¹¹

SB 534 (Republican Medical Cannabis Bill)

Sponsored by Senate President Mary Felzkowski, Senator Patrick Testin, and Representative Patrick Snyder, SB 534 would create an Office of Medical Cannabis Regulation within the Department of Health Services. It explicitly rejected recreational legalization and limited eligible products to non-smokeable forms: oils, edibles, topicals, tinctures, pills, creams, and vapor. Dispensaries would have to keep a pharmacist on staff at all times. Qualifying conditions would include cancer, epilepsy, severe chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and terminal illness.¹²

Annual patient registration would cost $20. The bill included protections against housing discrimination and barred courts from using a patient’s legal cannabis use against them in custody proceedings, but did not extend fair employment protections to patients.¹³ SB 534 passed the Senate Health Public Committee on February 5, 2026, and was listed as available for scheduling, but the full legislature had not voted on it by the session’s end.¹⁴

Federal Rescheduling and What It Means for Wisconsin

On December 18, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research,” directing the Attorney General to expedite rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act.¹⁵ Schedule III classification places a substance alongside drugs like ketamine and certain anabolic steroids. It opens pathways for medical research but does not legalize recreational use at the federal level.¹⁶

On April 23, 2026, the Justice Department and DEA issued an order immediately placing FDA-approved marijuana products and state-licensed medical marijuana products into Schedule III. The DEA ended the slower rulemaking that had begun in 2024 and set an administrative hearing on the broader rescheduling of marijuana to begin on June 29, 2026.¹⁷

Federal rescheduling does not change Wisconsin’s state-level prohibition. Possession and sale remain criminal under state law regardless of how federal law classifies the drug. The order’s practical effect inside Wisconsin is limited; its political effect is to put additional pressure on the state’s holdout status, which the executive order itself noted by pointing out that 40 states and the District of Columbia already have regulated medical marijuana programs.

What the 2026 Election Could Change

The Republican-controlled legislature has been the main barrier to legalization. Governor Tony Evers repeatedly included legalization in his budget proposals, and the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee stripped those provisions each time, including in May 2025.¹⁸ Republican leadership has signaled that any action it will consider is limited to medical use; former Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he supported medical marijuana “in some circumstances” but opposed it as a “pathway to full recreational legalization.”¹⁹ Internal disagreement between Assembly and Senate Republicans over whether dispensaries should be private or state-run has also stalled medical bills.²⁰

Evers announced in July 2025 that he will not seek a third term, creating an open gubernatorial race.²¹ Democratic candidates, including Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez, state Senator Kelda Roys, state Representative Francesca Hong, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, and former WEDC CEO Missy Hughes, have broadly endorsed legalization. Roys and Hughes said directly that they support “legalizing weed.”²² On the Republican side, U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, and manufacturing CEO Bill Berrien are running; Tiffany has expressed openness to medical marijuana for veterans with PTSD.²³

Public opinion has moved well ahead of the legislature. A Marquette University poll found 63% of state residents support recreational legalization and 86% support medical cannabis.²⁴ Advisory referenda in the November 2022 midterms passed everywhere they appeared, with Dane County voters supporting legalization at 81% and Milwaukee County at 74%, and with similar results in Appleton, Racine, Kenosha, Stevens Point, Superior, and Eau Claire County.²⁵ Wisconsin has no statewide initiative process, so voters cannot enact legalization directly; change has to come through the legislature.

Until it does, state law is what governs. Possession, sale, and cultivation remain illegal everywhere in Wisconsin, local ordinances change the fine inside a handful of cities but not the underlying crime, and the only cannabis-related products that have been legal to buy at retail — intoxicating hemp derivatives — are set to lose that status in November 2026 unless the legislature acts first.

1
Wisconsin State Legislature. Senate Bill 1045
2
City of Madison Police Department. Enforcement of Marijuana Laws Standard Operating Procedure
3
NORML. Wisconsin Local Decriminalization
4
ProGov21. Milwaukee County Ordinance 21208
5
Wisconsin Examiner. Wisconsin’s Hemp Industry Grapples With Federal Ban
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Regulatory Oversight. Congress Narrows Federal Definition of Hemp Effectively Banning Most Intoxicating Hemp Products
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CSG Midwest. Farm Bill Loophole Has Led to a Booming Industry for Hemp-Derived Products
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Wisconsin Examiner. Hemp Regulation Divide Among Republican Lawmakers
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Wisconsin State Legislature. SB 682 Hearing Testimony and Materials
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Wisconsin Public Radio. Hemp THC Cannabis Products Regulations Wisconsin
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LegiScan. Wisconsin SB 1045
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Wisconsin Examiner. Republicans Push Medical Cannabis Bill but Is There Enough Support
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Marijuana Policy Project. Medical Cannabis Bill Summary
14
Marijuana Policy Project. Key Marijuana Policy Reform
15
White House. Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research
16
PBS NewsHour. Trump Orders Reclassification of Marijuana Downgrading Its Drug Schedule
17
U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Department Places FDA-Approved Marijuana Products and Products Containing Marijuana Into Schedule III
18
Amundsen Davis Law. Marijuana Legalization Cut From Wisconsin Governor’s Proposed Budget
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Wisconsin Public Radio. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Medical Marijuana
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Wisconsin Examiner. Medical Marijuana Likely Dead This Session According to Assembly Speaker
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NBC News. GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany Jumps Into Open Wisconsin Governor’s Race
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Wisconsin Examiner. Wisconsin Gubernatorial Candidates Discuss Marijuana at First Forum
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WSAW. Wisconsin Loses Millions in Marijuana Tax Revenue to Border States
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Wisconsin State Legislature, Senator Larson. Marijuana Survey
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Wisconsin Public Radio. Wisconsin Voters Show Overwhelming Support for Marijuana Legalization Through Advisory Referenda