From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin Chairman Thomas Fowler called during the State of the Tribes address for legalizing medical marijuana in Wisconsin.
Fowler spoke before a joint session of the state Assembly and Senate yesterday to give the annual address on behalf of Wisconsin’s 11 federally recognized tribes.
Proposals to legalize medical marijuana so far have stalled in the GOP-led Legislature over past sessions.
“Overdoses have nearly wiped out a generation of our tribal nations’ mothers and fathers,” Fowler said. “Through the regulation of medical marijuana in the state of Wisconsin, we can work towards moving people out of highly addictive drugs — drugs which are killing our people.”
The address also touched on concerns about how federal government changes may affect tribes, the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, water quality issues and more.
See more coverage at WisPolitics.
— Sen. Patrick Testin says extending the state’s Enhanced Prescription Drug Monitoring Program is “vital” in the fight against the opioid epidemic.
The state Senate yesterday passed a bill that would extend the ePDMP program by five years to 2030, according to a release from the Stevens Point Republican. Currently, one provision of the program will expire April 1 and another would end Oct. 30.
Since launching in 2013, the program has provided information on controlled substance prescriptions to health care professionals to guide their prescribing. It also includes a requirement that doctors and other prescribers in the state review patient records in the program’s database before issuing a prescription, the release shows.
Testin argues the ePDMP is “one of the most crucial prevention tools” against the opioid epidemic, pointing to a “ten-fold” increase in registrations over the past five years.
“There is obviously a tremendous benefit to continuing the ePDMP,” he said in a statement. “Statistics also show that opioid dispensions dropped by 9.2 percent from the last quarter of 2023 to the same time frame in 2024. The ePDMP is working as intended and we must ensure that healthcare providers and law enforcement can keep using this important tool.”
Testin notes the Assembly is scheduled to consider the bill tomorrow, where if passed, it would go to Dem Gov. Tony Evers for his signature.
See the release below.
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Press Releases
– Sen. Testin: Wisconsin Senate passes Sen. Testin’s ePDMP legislation
