MILWAUKEE — Scores of travelers streamed through Los Angeles International Airport in March, just off a flight from China. But one passenger, a 33-year-old Chinese chemist, never reached baggage claim.

The passenger, Haijun Tian, was arrested at the airport by Drug Enforcement Administration agents, the prize at the end of an elaborate sting operation aimed at stemming the importation and sale of spice, the street name for a family of synthetic drugs that look like marijuana and are sprayed with a dangerous hallucinogenic chemical, then smoked.

Mitch Teich with Public Policy Forum president Rob Henken.

Members of a Milwaukee Common Council committee took up a proposal Thursday that could reduce the penalties for first-time offenses for possession of small amounts of marijuana. Advocates say reforms are needed to address disparities in how marijuana laws are enforced and their impact on offenders.

"When you look at the percentage of the population that is African-American versus the percentage of offenders who are actually being picked up by police in Milwaukee and prosecuted, there is a disparity there," says Public Policy Forum president Rob Henken.

Losing a child is the worst nightmare any parent could imagine, a nightmare that is much harder to bear when you know that there may have been something you could have done to prevent such an awful tragedy. As unimaginable as this scenario is for most parents, preventable deaths are happening at an alarming rate as politicians argue about whether or not marijuana is medicine (we did some checking, it is). At this crucial time in history, a moment when the science on medical marijuana has become crystal clear, our government leaders can no longer afford to move slowly on reform measures. The lives of our children depend on this.

Lawmakers in Wisconsin were expected to consider a bill to legalize marijuana this year, however it’ll likely face substantial opposition in the Republican-controlled state Legislature, legal experts have said. Conservative lawmakers rejected a similar bill last legislative session and generally oppose legalization in the state, according to the Badger Herald.

A Wisconsin lawmaker says the state should legalize marijuana to reduce crime and improve the state's economy.

Rep. Melissa Sargent, a Madison Democrat, introduced a bill Monday that would legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational purposes.

In a news conference Monday Sargent said that legalizing the drug would reduce crime associated with growing and selling cannabis and create jobs.

But the bill will likely go up in smoke. Republicans control both chambers and don't seem eager to support the measure.

Gov. Scott Walker last spring signed into law a measure that permits the use of marijuana derivatives to treat certain medical disorders. His spokeswoman, Laurel Patrick, said Walker opposes legalization and sees marijuana as a gateway drug.

MADISON – A Democratic lawmaker introduced legislation Monday morning that would legalize marijuana in Wisconsin, but the bill will likely go up in smoke.

State Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, held a press conference at the Capitol along with the president of the Wisconsin Cannabis Project. They said the change would reduce crime associated with growing and selling cannabis and create jobs.

State Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison.

Sargent introduced a similar bill last year, but it made no progress through the state Legislature.

MADISON (WKOW) – State Rep. Melissa Sargent (D-Madison) will unveil a proposal Monday to legalize marijuana in Wisconsin.

Sargent, who introduced a similar bill during the last legislative session, said legalizing pot is about personal liberty.

“This is not an issue for just one party or another. This is an issue that brings the state together,” Sargent said. “It actually energizes a base of people that feel that feel they haven't had a voice at the Capitol – an awful lot of young people who value that personal liberties angle.”

Sargent said legalizing marijuana would also combat racial disparities evident in the current, criminal justice system by cutting back on the incarceration of non-violent, drug offenders.