NORML's Smoke the Vote

B- Romaine Quinn (R - WI) LEGALIZE, TAX, AND REGULATE MEDICAL USE

The 2019 GOP Spring Survey in his district showed 67% of his base supported medical marijuana and Quinn did end up co-sponsoring the Republican attempt to create a medical marijuana program. Since elected in 2014 Rep. Quinn has seemed like a marijuana reformer. He received his high grade mostly because of the words he has been saying, direction he is heading and because voters in his district tell us he supports marijuana reform!

Holds office State Senate District 25

Biography

Born Rice Lake, Wisconsin, July 30, 1990.
Graduate Rice Lake High School, 2009; interdisciplinary B.A. in Political Science with emphasis on Public Leadership, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 2014; attended University of Wisconsin-Barron County and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Full-time legislator. Former Coca-Cola salesman.
Rice Lake City Council, 2009–10; mayor of Rice Lake, 2010–12.
Elected to Assembly since 2014. Leadership positions: Majority Caucus Vice Chair 2019, 2017.

Position on Marijuana Legalization

2019 Rep. Quinn: Maybe? That is an answer you’d expect from a politician, right? This is why I prefer to go through the hearing process before deciding on difficult bills: I say maybe because I feel that I really do need to know more information before saying yes or no, and I’d like to hear from some experts. By opening marijuana up for recreational use, we would need to know for certain that law enforcement would have the tools necessary to ensure public safety. Being able to detect when people are driving impaired and knowing the quantity of THC in the marijuana being consumed (similar to measuring alcohol content) would need to be easily accessible. But when it is all said and done, if you continue to go to work every day and take care of yourself and your family and don’t hurt anyone else, is it really the government’s business telling you what you can or can’t put in your body, especially while in your own home?

2022: But Quinn doesn’t think the state is prepared for full legalization.

“I also do not believe that those who use marijuana recreationally are bad people,” said Quinn. “If you go to work, pay your taxes, and don't neglect your health or the health of your children, I have a hard time saying what you can or cannot do in the confines of your own home.

“The key concern for law enforcement, which is a group I would look to for guidance on this, is that there is no good way to tell when someone is driving high. Unless we expect our police to start performing blood draws on the side of the road, we need the technology to make sure our roadways are safe before expanding more opportunities for impaired driving.”

Position on Medical Marijuana

2022: “I don't believe the government should stand in the way of somebody who has a chronic or terminal illness that could find relief by consuming marijuana in some form, which is why I also voted for "Right to Try" legislation when I was in the state assembly,” he said.