Lydia’s Law (CBD-only) — Wis. Stat. § 961.32(2m)(b)

Last verified: May 2026

Wisconsin Act 267 (2014) — The Original

In April 2014, the Wisconsin Legislature enacted 2013 Wisconsin Act 267 (Assembly Bill 726), nominally legalizing CBD oil for treatment of seizure disorders. The law was renamed "Lydia’s Law" by a subsequent measure honoring Lydia Schaeffer, age 7, whose parents had advocated for the bill.

Lydia Schaeffer died in her sleep less than a month after Gov. Scott Walker signed the law. The grief surrounding her death — and the particular tragedy of a CBD-access bill named for her enacted just before her passing — has resonated in Wisconsin cannabis-policy advocacy for over a decade.

The 2014 law had a fatal compliance flaw: to secure Senate passage, sponsors had added a requirement that physicians obtain a special FDA investigational drug permit. The pathway was essentially unworkable. CBD remained inaccessible to Wisconsin patients for three years.

2017 Wisconsin Act 4 — The Functional Fix

In 2017, Gov. Walker signed Senate Bill 10 (2017 Wisconsin Act 4) into law in Burlington. SB 10 passed the Senate 31-1 and the Assembly 98-0. Act 4 amended Lydia’s Law so that:

• Patients may possess CBD oil "without a psychoactive effect".
• Any medical condition qualifies (no qualifying-condition list).
• Physician certification serves as an affirmative defense under Wis. Stat. § 961.32(2m)(b).

The 2017 amendment removed the FDA-investigational-permit barrier and made the pathway functional.

Practical Reality, 2026

Since the federal 2018 Farm Bill descheduled hemp-derived CBD nationwide, the Lydia’s Law certification has become largely vestigial:

• Adults can purchase compliant hemp-derived CBD products without a physician note.
• The certification pathway remains relevant primarily for products at the regulatory edge (full-spectrum products that test slightly above 0.3% THC).
• DHS tracks certifications but operates no patient registry or ID system.
• The certification provides § 961.32(2m)(b) affirmative defense for non-compliant CBD products that might otherwise qualify as cannabis under state law.

The Felony-Cliff Implication for Cardholders

The narrow CBD-only protection does not displace:

• The Wis. Stat. § 961.41(3g)(e) felony cliff for non-CBD cannabis (any other product is illegal).
• The OWI per se zero-tolerance threshold (any detectable THC suffices regardless of source).
• The federal Schedule I status of cannabis (Lydia’s Law does not affect federal-employer drug-testing).
• Employer drug-free-workplace policies (federal-grant-funded employers can fire registered patients for positive THC tests).

A Lydia’s Law certification does not provide broad medical-cannabis access — only narrow CBD-oil affirmative defense.

Compared to Other "Narrow Medical" Programs

Wisconsin’s Lydia’s Law is comparable to Iowa’s narrow-medical CBD framework, Indiana’s, and Tennessee’s — all CBD-only programs that do not permit psychoactive THC products. The Wisconsin framework is more explicit ("without a psychoactive effect") than some others; the 2017 amendment’s removal of qualifying-condition list is unusually permissive.

Future Reform

SB 534 (Felzkowski / Testin / Snyder, 2025) would replace Lydia’s Law with a comprehensive medical-cannabis program. SB 534 passed Senate Health Committee 4-1 October 2025 but had not received a Senate floor vote as of May 2026. Speaker Vos called it "way too broad." See SB 534 page.

Related on this site: Evers Budgets, Send a Message, Contact CannabisWisconsin.org.