Madison NORML

The governor's office explained the bill like this way in a January 4 press release, "Governor Doyle Signs 15 Bills into Law":

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Senate Bill 21 ends the provisions of 2003 Wisconsin Act 193 for all Wisconsin counties regardless of population, bringing all counties in line with Milwaukee County with regard to ordinances relating to drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.

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Here is the Analysis of SB 21 by the Legislative Reference Bureau

County ordinances regarding drug paraphernalia

Current law prohibits the possession, manufacture, and delivery of drug paraphernalia. If a person 17 years of age or older violates one of the prohibitions relating to drug paraphernalia, he or she is subject to criminal penalties (a fine or imprisonment or both). If a person under the age of 17 violates the prohibitions relating to drug paraphernalia, he or she is generally subject to suspension or revocation of his or her privilege to operate a motor vehicle for not less than six months nor more than five years and either or both of the following: a forfeiture (civil monetary penalty) of up to $500, with the amount depending on how many drug paraphernalia offenses the person committed in the preceding 12 months, and a requirement that he or she participate in community service work. More severe penalties may be imposed on both adults and juveniles for the possession or use of drug paraphernalia used to produce or store methamphetamine.

Current law also allows a county with a population of 500,000 or more (currently only Milwaukee County) to enact and enforce an ordinance prohibiting the possession, manufacture, or delivery of drug paraphernalia. The ordinance must prohibit the same conduct that is prohibited under the state statutes relating to the possession, manufacture, and delivery of drug paraphernalia generally (as opposed 1 2 3 - 2 - 2005 - 2006 Legislature LRB-0645/2 MGD:lmk&jld:rs SENATE BILL 21 to the state statutes governing the possession or use of methamphetamine-related drug paraphernalia). Under this bill, any county - not just a county with a population of 500,000 or more - may enact and enforce an ordinance prohibiting the possession, manufacture, or delivery of drug paraphernalia.

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Finally, Ben Masel offered this analysis on the Drug Policy Forum of Wisconsin listserve click here when it was first introduced:

"It's a rather small positive step, with a catch. In enabling local units to enact paraphernlia ordinances to be available as alternatives to criminal prosecutions, there's no upper limit on the size of the fine. Since the local govt keeps the money from fines under ordinances, but not criminal cases, cops are further incentivised toward dubious searches."

Perhaps the most interesting thing about SB 21 are the people who sponsored and cosponsored it; Senator Neil Kedzie and Representatives Nass, Gundrum, Musser, Kestell, Nischke, Townsend, Hines, Staskunas, Davis, Ott, Hundertmark, Hahn and Albers. While a mixture of conservatives and moderates, it includes several not known to favor softening penalties for cannabis users. But if fining people instead of jailing them for minor possession cases is acceptable, because it brings in more revenue to cash-starved counties, why not just tax and regulate marijuana like we do alcohol and tobacco?