Wisconsin cannabis licensing, facility design and equipment.
Wisconsin cannabis has no state license: no medical or adult use program exists as of Nov. 2026, and the Republican medical bill (SB 534 / AB 547) died at session end March 23, 2026 without a floor vote. What exists is a physician certified CBD exception, USDA hemp licenses since 2022, and hemp THC products with no state cap.
No WI cannabis license as of Nov. 8, 2026; medical bill SB 534 failed at session end March 23, 2026
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Where Wisconsin is today
Wisconsin issues no cannabis business license. The 2025 Senate Bill 534, written by Senate President Felzkowski and Sen. Testin, cleared the Senate Health Committee Feb. 5, 2026 and failed to pass at session end March 23, 2026; its Assembly twin, AB 547, never got a hearing after Speaker Vos called it too broad. DATCP, which would license growers and processors under that bill, has not licensed hemp since Jan. 1, 2022, when growers moved to USDA.
Hemp THC products sit in a gap: no state potency cap, age floor or retail license as of 2026, with federal changes due in late 2026. Compare cannabis licensing in every state.
- Jan. 1, 2022. DATCP's hemp program ends; Wisconsin growers license through USDA and processors no longer need a DATCP hemp license.
- Oct. 15, 2025. SB 534 and AB 547 introduced: Office of Medical Cannabis Regulation under DHS, DATCP licensing for growers, processors and labs, no smokable products.
- Oct. 22, 2025. Senate Health Committee hearing; the Assembly companion never gets one.
- Feb. 5, 2026. Senate Health Committee recommends passage of SB 534.
- March 23, 2026. SB 534 fails to pass at session end under Senate Joint Resolution 1; no floor vote in either house.
- January 2027. Next regular session; a new medical bill would start from introduction.
How to get a Wisconsin cannabis license
- Watch for a 2027 refile. SB 534 died without a floor vote; a successor needs Assembly leadership on board, which it did not have in 2026.
- Hold a USDA hemp license if you grow. It is free and runs three years; processors need no state hemp license but answer to DATCP food rules.
- Build next door. To compare neighboring markets, see licensing in every state.
- Design to SB 534's shape. It would have licensed cultivation, processing and labs separately from pharmacist staffed dispensaries, so a facility design for a standalone grow and extraction plant is the right first draft.
- Pick your starting point. Dispensary plans: price a pharmacist staffed, nonsmokable product store with cannabis financial modeling. Cultivation and processing plans: start new license facility planning.
What the state issues, and what each one needs built
- Cannabis: none. No cultivation, processing, dispensary or lab license exists; SB 534's DATCP grower and processor licenses were never enacted.
- Hemp grower. USDA Domestic Hemp Production Program license, no fee, three year term; DATCP exited hemp licensing Jan. 1, 2022 and keeps only consumer and food product authority over processors.
- Hemp THC products. No state license, cap or age minimum as of 2026; Milwaukee enforces a local 21+ ordinance.
What a Wisconsin facility costs to design and build.
Price the building before the license: indoor cultivation and processing runs $150 to $500+ per sq ft, so a 20,000 sq ft grow and extraction plant of the kind SB 534 would have licensed is $3 million to $10 million or more. Design takes 30 to 60 days and the build 3 to 6 months after permits, so a facility can be ready inside one legislative session.
Wisconsin's commercial electricity averaged 13.06 cents per kWh in 2025, close to the 13.37 cent U.S. average, per EIA Electric Power Annual, Table 2.10. Cold winters cut cooling cost and add heating load; humid summers still drive dehumidification sizing. SB 534 would have barred local zoning of medical cannabis businesses, so siting under that model is a state question.
Wisconsin specifics
Hemp THC testing. Growers follow USDA sampling rules; Wisconsin applies no state total THC formula and requires no COA or retail license for finished hemp products. Bills introduced in the 2025 to 2026 session proposed alcohol model licensing and a 10 mg per serving drink cap; none of those rules is in force.
Medical product rules in SB 534. Nonsmokable forms only (concentrates, oils, tinctures, edibles, pills, topicals, vapors, patches), lab tested, labeled, tracked seed-to-sale, dispensed by pharmacists at a 30 day first supply and 90 days after.
Fire code. Confirm the adopted fire code and its plant extraction chapter with the local fire department and the Department of Safety and Professional Services before you spec a solvent room.
| Topic | Wisconsin rule | Design response |
|---|---|---|
| Hemp extraction | No state processor license since Jan. 1, 2022; DATCP food and consumer product authority applies | Closed loop suite on used Precision Extraction systems, sized from our extraction equipment guide |
| Product testing | No state COA or potency cap; SB 534 would have required lab testing of every medical product | Release testing bench from our testing lab equipment guide |
| Solvent rooms | Local fire department applies the adopted fire code to extraction | C1D1 room requirements drawn into the MEP set |
| A future program | SB 534: DATCP licensed growers, processors and labs; nonsmokable products; no local zoning control | Sealed rooms with Quest dehumidifiers (sourced on request) and Thrive Agritech LED lighting, per our cannabis HVAC design guide |
What the same work did for an operator like you
What a Wisconsin applicant gets from the design desk.
- A Wisconsin cannabis compliance brief tracking the next medical bill and DATCP's hemp product rules
- Cannabis facility design for a standalone grow and extraction plant built to a nonsmokable product list
- A cannabis facility design package in 30 to 60 days
- Extraction and refinement rooms specified from our distillation guide
Wisconsin questions
Is weed legal in Wisconsin in 2026?
No. Wisconsin has no medical or adult use cannabis law as of Nov. 2026. Hemp products at 0.3% delta-9 THC are legal with no state cap on delta-8 or other hemp THC, and a physician certified CBD exception exists under Wis. Stat. 961.32(2m). The 2025 medical bill, SB 534, died at session end March 23, 2026.
Can I open a dispensary in Wisconsin?
No. No dispensary license exists. SB 534 would have created dispensaries staffed by pharmacists selling nonsmokable products under an Office of Medical Cannabis Regulation, but it never reached a floor vote and the Assembly companion never got a hearing.
Does Wisconsin have medical marijuana?
No program. The Senate's SB 534 (Felzkowski and Testin) cleared committee Feb. 5, 2026 and died March 23, 2026; the Assembly's AB 547 never moved after Speaker Vos called the bill too broad, having favored state run dispensaries in 2024. Any 2027 bill starts over.
Can I grow hemp in Wisconsin?
Yes, with a USDA license. DATCP ended its hemp program Jan. 1, 2022, so there is no state grower fee or annual permit; the federal license is free and runs three years. Processors need no state hemp license but fall under DATCP's food and consumer product rules, and federal hemp definition changes are due in late 2026.
Where the Wisconsin rules on this page come from
- Wisconsin Legislature: 2025 Senate Bill 534, authors, Oct. 22, 2025 hearing, Feb. 5, 2026 committee vote, failed March 23, 2026
- Wisconsin Legislature: 2025 Assembly Bill 547, Oct. 15, 2025 introduction, no hearing or vote
- DATCP bulletin, Sept. 2021, hemp program transition to USDA Jan. 1, 2022, processors no longer licensed
- EIA Electric Power Annual, Table 2.10 (2025), average commercial electricity price by state
Regulator: No state cannabis regulator; hemp growers license through USDA (DATCP exited Jan. 1, 2022). Last reviewed November 7, 2026.
Record last reviewed