Someone’s plan to harvest dozens of cannabis plants apparently grown on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Capitol has gone up in smoke.
The plants grew in a tulip garden outside the Capitol, WMTV-TV reported Thursday.
Tatyana Warrick, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Administration, told The Associated Press in an email Friday that workers had removed the plants, but her agency could not determine whether they were marijuana or hemp. Both are forms of cannabis, but only marijuana contains the compound that gets people high.
Warrick did not respond to questions about how the plants might have gotten into the garden.
University of Wisconsin-Madison botanist Shelby Ellison, who examined the plants for WMTV before they were removed, told the station they were cannabis plants. But she told The Associated Press on Friday that she couldn’t say for sure whether it was marijuana or hemp.
She said there were dozens of plants in the garden, suggesting someone had planted them intentionally.
“It was just a lot of plants for it to be accidental,” Ellison said.
Marijuana remains illegal in all forms in Wisconsin. Assembly Republicans introduced a bill last session that would have legalized medical marijuana, but they failed to muster support from their state Senate counterparts and the measure was never heard.
NBC Chicago
