The last few attempts to put local cannabis ordinances to a vote in WI in Oshkosh and Racine in the late 20-teens were shot down by restrictive interpretations of state law regarding binding referendums by local clerks. Things were different in the 1970s, when a number of Wisconsin cities including Madison, Whitewater and Mayville had binding referendums before voters. Passed in April 1977, only Madison's was successful. That became Madison Ordinance 23.20, which was recently amended by Madison alders to put in a lot of things Madison pot activists wanted to include in the 1977 referendum, but were told it would conflict with state law and face a legal challenge. This excerpt from the Rise and Fall of Cannabis Prohibition in Wisconsin previews the first page of Chapter 26, looking at direct legislation in Wisconsin in the late 1970s.
