The youngest Senate President ever in Wisconsin and a veteran. Marijuana reform is not always generational as this young man does not even want to talk about it. Senator Roger Roth (R-Appleton) has ignored veterans, patients, doctors, activists, voters, colleagues and even friends on the issue to deserve his F grade.
He is poised to replace Senator Fitzgerald and watch over the just say no campaign to marijuana reform in the Wisconsin Republican Senate.
- Born Appleton, Wisconsin, February 5, 1978; married; 4 children.
- Graduate St. Mary Central High School (Menasha), 1996; B.S. in History, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 2001.
- Self-employed home builder. First lieutenant in the Wisconsin Air National Guard; Iraq War veteran.
- Member: American Legion; AMVETS; Veterans of Foreign Wars.
- Legislature: Elected to Assembly 2006–08. Elected to Senate since 2014. Leadership positions: President of the Senate 2019, 2017.
Member of State Capitol and Executive Residence Board
2017 News statements: “Does it lead to be a gateway drug? Are young minors finding access to it more easily? Are there negative consequences, or are there really positive things? Do we find that the tax benefits from it make it worthwhile,” he said.
“I don’t think we should have the conversation until 2025 when we’ve had a decade’s-worth of data to comb through and really understand how this will affect our society,” said Roth of future numbers from states with legal marijuana.
2018 Campaign News: Would you support changing state law to legalize marijuana and/or cannabis products? If so, under what conditions? If not, why?
Roth: I don’t believe there’s enough data available to understand how it would affect our society in a number of important areas. Some initial statistics from states where it’s legal show an increase in fatal crashes attributable to drivers testing positive solely for marijuana. Our local law enforcement officials are against it, and it’s unclear how they could accurately and immediately test for driving under the influence of marijuana in the same way as they test for alcohol. I am also concerned that legalization could make marijuana even more accessible to minors as well as the health consequences from smoking.
“I think the best thing we can do right now in the state is really glean from the other states that have already gone down that road and make sure we fully understand the impacts that this could have before Wisconsin takes that plunge,” said State Sen. Roger Roth (R-Appleton).
29 states have approved medical marijuana legislation.
Roth believes about a decade would be the appropriate period to wait and see what develops in those states.
“There must be a lot of apprehension in the medical community because not one organization in the medical community has lined up in support of this bill,” said Roth. “I think that ought to be very telling where we are in this state, where the medical community is when it comes to legalizing marijuana.”