Wisconsin brings cannabis under poison-sales controls

Wisconsin’s 1862 sales legislation belongs in the history of early cannabis controls. The evidence retrieved supports the year and inclusion of cannabis, while leaving the statute’s detailed operation open for further research.

The evidence for 1862

The National Academies’ 2024 historical review identifies New York in 1860 and Wisconsin in 1862 among the earliest dangerous-drug sales laws covering cannabis. It cites Adam R. Rathge’s 2017 dissertation. That gives this entry a traceable scholarly basis, though the review and its cited dissertation should not be counted as independent confirmations.

What remains to be checked

The original Wisconsin enactment was not successfully retrieved. This article therefore does not assign a chapter number, exact commencement date, penalty, prescription requirement or exception. Those details need the legislative text; they cannot be supplied by copying another state’s provisions.

For comparison, the contemporary legal account used for New York’s 1860 law reproduces transaction records, physician exceptions and geographical limits. The 1862 New York amendment changed that arrangement. Neither entry establishes Wisconsin’s wording.

How to read this event

The date records the year reported by the historical review. It is not a verified day of commencement. Likewise, the checked status means the narrow statement was compared with the cited review; it does not certify an inspection of the original law.

The entry is unscored in the United States timeline. A state sales rule cannot establish the legal position throughout the country. Future research should replace these limits with an account of the actual sections, including any amendments, once their text can be inspected.^[1]