[photo] Gov. Scott Walker announced the creation of a state task force to address the Wisconsin's troubling increase in opioid abuse at a Walgreens pharmacy at 3522 W. Wisconsin Ave.(Photo: Maggie Angst / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Gov. Scott Walker on Thursday called for a special legislative session to fight heroin addiction and ordered state agencies to ramp up their response to a drug that kills hundreds in Wisconsin each year.

The Republican governor held series of events Thursday in Weston, Green Bay and Chippewa Falls to announce the special session and the executive orders, which seek to implement recommendations from a report issued by Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette).

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WASHINGTON -- The DC Cannabis Coalition says it plans to hand out thousands of joints of marijuana on Inauguration Day -- for free -- to urge federal legalization of pot.

The group plans to start handing out joints at 8 a.m. Jan. 20 on the west side of Dupont Circle in the nation's capital, where recreational marijuana is legal. Then, marchers will walk to the National Mall where the real protest will begin.

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A recommendation by state Rep. Joel Kleefisch would have parents request their high school students be tested for illegal drugs.

Students drive out of the parking lot at the end of the school day at De Pere High School on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. Students who have parking permits at the school are subjected to random drug testing throughout the school year.(Photo: Adam Wesley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wi)

GREEN BAY - Rep. Joel Kleefisch had a ready response for lawmakers and school administrators who were quick to speak out against a proposal late last year for statewide random drug testing in high schools.

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Twenty people have died of probable heroin overdoses in Milwaukee County since July 27.

The Milwaukee County medical examiner's office says this is a photo of a typical drug-overdose death scene.(Photo: Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office, Milwaukee County Medical Examiner 's Office)

Twenty people have died of probable heroin overdoses in Milwaukee County during the past two weeks, a toll the county medical examiner's office on Thursday called "unprecedented."

The county typically averages one heroin death every three days, the office said. The medical examiner is investigating the possibility that other drugs, such as fentanyl, played a role in the deaths.

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Among the dozens of tragic stories of heroin abuse this year, one from Oconomowoc may stand out.

A 15-year-old girl whose mother believes had never tried the drug before died after trying what her ex-boyfriend told her was cocaine.

That was in July. Now a spray of pine boughs and red ribbons marks the holidays at Erika Reiner's gravestone, etched with a panda bear and a musical staff, as her parents struggle through her loss.

The boy, 17-year-old Seth Moretti, is in treatment at a state mental hospital and facing charges of first-degree reckless homicide. If and when doctors say he's stable enough to be released, he will move to the Waukesha County Jail unless he posts $50,000 bail. If he's still hospitalized, Moretti will appear by video at a Jan. 26 hearing.

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A police officer holds a bag of heroin confiscated as evidence on March 22 in Gloucester, Mass.(Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK)

Wisconsin's battle against heroin yielded more grim results in 2015.

The death toll rose for the ninth straight year, and the total of 281 deaths was triple the number killed by heroin in 2010. Meanwhile, the number of total opioid deaths -- which includes heroin and prescription opiates -- topped the number of Wisconsin traffic deaths for the third straight year.

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Flood of fentanyl and heroin is straining budgets, putting police at risk as drug networks spread

During an attempted drug-trafficking bust this spring on Chicago's South Side, police Sgt. James Madden took off running after a young man, chasing him into a darkened yard before losing the trail.

Sgt. Madden didn't know where he was going. That's because he works for a sheriff's office 500 miles away, in the northwestern corner of Wisconsin.

The officer's work doesn't normally take him so far from his home of Superior, Wis., (population 27,000), but today's drug trade is imposing unprecedented new burdens on small-town law enforcement. He made the eight-hour drive to pursue a Chicagoan who allegedly traveled to Superior to sell large quantities of a dangerous drug called fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to 50 times as potent as heroin. is supercharging the longstanding problem of drugs in small towns. Police, forensic labs and prosecutors are struggling to identify and safely intercept new narcotics that can sicken or kill anyone who handles them, and to combat trafficking networks that sometimes extend many hours away. Death rates from overdoses are now higher in rural areas than in big cities, reversing a historical trend.

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Much has changed in the cannabis world since Russ Feingold lost to Ron Johnson in 2010.

Then, about 15 states had legalized medical cannabis, a number now at 25. Today, four states and Washington, D.C., have legalized adult use. This November, at least three more will vote on medical, and five more will vote on adult use.

Feingold's record has been thin. While cannabis activists extensively advocated for his support, he never sponsored any bills.

The federal CARERS Act would make it easier for researchers to study marijuana. It is sponsored by U.S. Sens. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, and Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, and has 19 cosponsors including U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison.

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The last sentence of Ann C. Pendleton's letter of July 11 posed a question: "If marijuana can be legalized for recreational use, then why are not other drugs being legalized for recreational use?" ("Marijuana is dangerous," Letters).

My immediate reaction: Are you kidding me? Just walk into any liquor store and you have a much more dangerous drug of all sorts to choose from. Pick your poison. Liquor and its use causes more deaths and accidents than marijuana. There is just no argument.

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A majority of Wisconsinites want marijuana to be legal and regulated like alcohol, a new poll shows.

Results were released Wednesday for the Marquette Law School Poll, a leading measure of public opinion in the Badger State.

The poll asked registered voters: "When it comes to marijuana, some people think that the drug should be fully legalized and regulated like alcohol. Do you agree or disagree with that view?"

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they agreed, while 39 percent disagreed.

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Because Colorado has materially experienced some advantages by legalizing the sale of marijuana for recreational use, one needs to evaluate what the real disadvantages are.

To say "marijuana does not kill anyone" is unrealistic when the use of marijuana many times leads to the use of heroin or other drugs that end in death, like my 20-year-old nephew, or may be a danger to others.

Marijuana is a drug. Use it only for medicinal purposes. If marijuana can be legalized for recreational use, then why are not other drugs being legalized for recreational use?

Ann C. Pendleton

Wauwatosa

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A marijuana advocacy group has revived an effort to drastically reduce penalties for being caught with the drug in Monona.

Members of the Madison chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) are circulating a petition that supports reducing municipal fines for pot possession to $1 in hopes of placing a binding referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Since mid-May, the group has gathered signatures to try to force action under the state's direct legislation law after a similar ordinance change was narrowly defeated by the city's Public Safety Commission earlier this year.

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One answer to Wisconsin money woes is to simply legalize marijuana, using Colorado as a model - legal, but controlled, taxed and sold for medical and recreational use.

I am a native of Colorado and am marveling over the improvements Colorado is getting from the "pot" tax. Even in my hometown Fort Morgan, schools are getting computers and a new school is coming. The state is booming.

Marijuana does not kill anyone and has helped many people cope with several medical issues. Moreover, new medical uses are being tested every day, such as for cancer, Alzheimer's and childhood seizures. As a cancer survivor, I want the benefits of cannabis and other options coming. The savings from policing funds can be used for research instead and help out with our infrastructure needs.

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Surprise and disappointment have turned to a unique history-making opportunity for a group of people wanting a $1 fine for possession of marijuana in Monona.

Members of Madison NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), led by President Nate Petreman of Monona, are collecting signatures to force the issue to a binding direct legislation referendum on the November ballot. In addition to the $1 fine, the legislation would make possession of marijuana the lowest priority for Monona police.

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Another Marquette Law School poll is out. But once again, no questions about cannabis legalization were asked. One has to go all the way back to September 2014 for that.

Each time a poll is released, it gets massive media attention. The issues raised by the poll trigger public discussion and shape the state debate. By failing to include public opinions on cannabis, Marquette is stifling debate. Is that for political reasons?

Wisconsinites are not oblivious to developments in other states. Twenty-six states now have some sort of medical cannabis law, including Louisiana, where a formerly symbolic law passed in 1978 was recently amended to create a workable state medical cannabis program. Wisconsin passed a similar law in 1982. In Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington State and Washington D.C., voters have legalized the adult use of cannabis, and more states will be voting on medical and adult use this November.

Here in Wisconsin the topic apparently has been declared taboo. This represents a grave disservice to state voters. Professor Charles Franklin and the Marquette Law School poll must do better if they care about their mission.

- -- Gary Storck, Madison

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They Find Trace of Marijuana Ingredient

Janet Fazen and her family run a vape shop in West Allis, but a recent visit by police has left them feeling like dope dealers. Officers seized their entire inventory of CBD liquid, which is said to come from industrial hemp plants. "The original vape additive. Add to your favorite liquid or vape alone," the package says.

Customers who buy it have told Fazen that it gives some relief from pain, fibromyalgia, anxiety and other maladies. There is a trace of THC, the ingredient that gives weed its buzz, but not enough to make anyone high, she said. Minors are not allowed in the store without a parent.

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This is in response to Ernst-Ulrich Franzen's column of June 6 ("How will we pay for roads?" Opinions).

He asks: "How will we pay for our roads?" and "What's the answer for those crumbling roads and potholes and deteriorating bridges all around us?"

He might want to check with the state of Colorado, as it is swimming in money these days. I'll bet it has no problem whatsoever paying for road repairs, or any other issues that need fixing.

Wisconsin should wake up from its fuddy-duddy slumber and start looking forward to the future. The answer is plain as day: legalize recreational marijuana. Problem solved!

Audrey Yanke Waukesha

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Probe Underway After Overdose Death at Oshkosh

State corrections officials think multiple inmates will be charged in connection with alleged drug distribution within an Oshkosh prison and the recent death of one inmate of an apparent drug overdose, records show.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported on the May 5 death of the 33-year-old inmate within a segregated unit at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution. With investigations ongoing, officials at the prison said they are withholding any reports on the death or any potential probes into alleged drug distribution within the prison.

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I was recently scrolling the opinion pages of the Tomah Journal online, and buried behind all of the really interesting stuff, I came across another letter to the editor from Natalie Carlisle, the Drug Free Communities coordinator and member of the Monroe County Safe Community Coalition's Marijuana Workgroup.

I have no desire to take things personally on matters of public policy. However, before the city of Tomah elected me to serve as District 4 Tomah City Alderman, Ms. Carlisle and her coalition mentioned my previous column calling for reform of Tomah's municipal code in regard to the penalties for possession of marijuana within the city limits. Therefore, in the interest of perpetuating a necessary conversation and equality of information, I do feel it necessary to highlight some of the worn out, tired propaganda and misinformation that is used to try to justify the continued violation of human rights in the form of arrests for a substance that is widely understood to be less dangerous than alcohol.

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Deaths from drug overdose now outnumber gun deaths in the United States. We should look at what got us into this situation.

In the 1990s, armed with the knowledge that nearly one-third of Americans will experience chronic pain at some point in their lives, and that 20% suffer from pain on a daily basis, Congress felt compelled to act. It could not bear the fact that "pain" was costing the country more than $125 billion a year. It went to work and expeditiously named the 2000s as the "Decade of Pain Control and Research."

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