Wisconsin sheriff warns road-tripping cheeseheads: Don’t bring Illinois pot back home

Our mellowed-out drug policy doesn’t extend past the northern border to Kenosha County.

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The sheriff of Kenosha County, Wisconsin, is warning residents that marijuana will remain illegal in the state come Jan. 1.

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As Illinois prepares to lift its prohibition on weed next month, its neighbor to the north is warning its own residents to think twice before visiting and bringing pot products back home.

Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth sent a reminder to Wisconsin residents Monday that cannabis will remain illegal in the state.

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Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth

While cheeseheads will soon be able to “travel to Illinois and consume recreational marijuana,” a news release from the sheriff’s office said, the Land of Lincoln’s mellowed-out drug policy doesn’t extend past the northern border to Wisconsin, where both medical and recreational marijuana are still banned.

“It is going to be business as usual for the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department,” the release states. “We will still enforce Wisconsin law even though the substance was legally purchased in Illinois.”

As part of Illinois’ cannabis legalization law, set to go into effect on Jan. 1, residents over the age of 21 will be able to carry up to 30 grams of flower, 5 grams of cannabis concentrate and up to a half-gram of THC-infused products, like edibles.

But visitors from states like Wisconsin will be allowed to possess half those amounts.

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