Editor’s note:

Yes, marijuana legalization increases adults’ use. Youth use is a different matter.

Marijuana use among adults in Wisconsin has been steadily increasing in recent years, especially among people who are 18 to 25 years old. Youth use has been falling. So what can the experience of other states tell us about the likely effect of legalizing cannabis use here?

In this third installment in our “real facts” series, Jeremiah Mosteller lays out the available research.

I don’t want to get in the way of the decent idea finally and begrudgingly approved by the Board of Regents as part of the DEI deal — approximately doubling the number of conservatives on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus faculty and adding one more.

But I do hope whoever writes up the job posting is honest.

Wanted: A really smart person to join the faculty at the OG of progressivism: UW-Madison. We don’t care about the color of your skin (just this once!) but unusual thickness is an absolute must. Epidermis should be approximately as thick as, say, a good border wall. Candidates with lesser thickness should have willingness to wear Kevlar.

I think it might be helpful to also explicitly require a good sense of humor, but that need is going be pretty apparent once the posting gets out and progressives accuse the university of both discriminating against illegal immigrants and making light of gun violence.

Kirk Bangstad, the owner of the Minocqua Brewing Company and guy behind the failed attempt to get the Wisconsin Supreme Court to end the state’s parental choice program, says he is not giving up.

Bangstad told the Wisconsin State Journal that the suit will be filed in a lower court by early next year.

The suit did not belong at the Supreme Court level because it was “plagued with misleading, misinformed, and nonsensical legal arguments,” according to Rick Esenberg, president of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.

The Badger Institute wrote about the problematic litigation here:

Homicides, as in other parts of the country, have risen in Wisconsin in recent years. According to figures gathered and published by the FBI, Milwaukee suffers more than half of homicides in Wisconsin in most years, though the city has about one-tenth of the state’s population. This makes Milwaukee’s homicide rate — homicides per 100,000 inhabitants — much higher than the comparable rates for Wisconsin’s next biggest cities, Madison and Green Bay, and the rate for all the rest of the state outside the three largest cities.

Segment begins around 56:25

How do you reform a state?

Even though there are many answers to that question, few would likely say, “a 300-page policy book.”

However, the Badger Institute is leading the charge in Wisconsin on meaningful and far-reaching reforms in K-12 education, tax restructuring, public safety, free-market healthcare options, workforce participation, welfare reform, infrastructure funding, and more—primarily through its Mandate for Madison policy research project.

This multi-faceted endeavor features research projects, outreach and communication strategy, and a 300+ page book featuring in-depth data and analysis from the country’s top policy experts.

And thanks to the Badger team’s foresight and legislative expertise, the Mandate for Madison isn’t just another series of white papers sitting on a shelf, it’s becoming enacted policy that will help millions of Wisconsinites.

The Badger Institute, formerly known as the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI), has long been at the forefront of the fight for school choice, right to work, welfare reform, tax restructuring, limited government, civil society and so much more. If you appreciate the Institute’s legacy and want to support free markets, opportunity and prosperity, please consider donating today. Your support will help the Institute continue to advocate for conservative principles now and in generations to come.

The Institute never has, and never will, accept government funding. We gratefully welcome your online donation or email Angela Smith, Executive Vice President.

The Badger Institute is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization funded solely by the generosity of foundations, companies and individuals.

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