Jay Selthofner, Citizen Journalist

Jay Selthofner

Jay Selthofner

Jay Selthofner

Activists from Wisconsin met to discuss starting a Wisconsin Chapter of the ASA (Americans For Safe Access) on April 13th, 2013. They had information on how to join the National Organization during their Spring Membership Drive. They are planning another meeting which will be open to the public and will be held on at the The Reddroom 15 E Walworth St, Elkhorn, WI 53121

Jay Selthofner

Jay Selthofner

Since Wisconsin has such strict marijuana penalties, it is logical to assume that people are serving time for marijuana violations in our prisons. But exactly how many? In an extensive study conducted by drugscience.org, Jon Gettman determined in 2007, Wisconsin had 17,734 marijuana arrests, each of which resulted in some time spent in either jail or prison. It is key to point out that 87 percent of these arrests were for possession only. Now, much to many people's surprise, the criminal justice system does not run itself for free, and with such an exorbitant number of people going through the criminal justice system due to marijuana, it's not going to get any cheaper. The 17,734 offenders in 2007 cost the state of Wisconsin a total of $132.17 million for arrest, prosecution and housing. This was 4 percent of the entire budget for the criminal justice system that year. Beyond spending money to house these dangerous doped-up felons, strict marijuana laws require police to waste their time and energy catching marijuana offenders, rather than pursuing more serious criminals. It is necessary to mention that the 17,734 marijuana offenders accounted for 68 percent of all drug arrests in Wisconsin. In other words, this means that the war on drugs in Wisconsin is mainly being waged against marijuana.