NEWS
Republican gubernatorial nominee Eric Barlow says he has never supported legalized recreational marijuana. However, his legislative history includes nearly a decade of sponsoring legislation supporting cannabis in various forms, including a 2021 bill that would have legalized recreational marijuana throughout Wyoming.
“I have never supported legalized cannabis in Wyoming. I have supported medical, and I think those are very different things.” That's what Republican gubernatorial nominee Eric Barlow told The Open Range Record during a September 22 interview in Kemmerer.
The statement came in response to questions from journalist Dawn Marquardt about whether Barlow would support recreational marijuana legalization and taxation as a potential replacement for revenue lost through a proposed 50% residential property tax reduction. Barlow went further, declaring, “I do not support—I don't think Wyoming supports recreational cannabis, period.”
There's just one problem.
In 2021, while serving as Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives, Barlow co-sponsored legislation that would have legalized recreational marijuana, established a statewide commercial cannabis industry, and imposed a 30% tax on marijuana sales. And that legislation represents just one chapter in Barlow's lengthy history of supporting legislation to expand access to marijuana and cannabis products in Wyoming.
Barlow's campaign was contacted for this story with a request for comment. They did not respond by the given deadline.
Barlow's Recreational Marijuana Bill
House Bill 209, titled Regulation of marijuana, was introduced during the 2021 legislative session. Its primary sponsor was Rep. Jared Olsen of Cheyenne. Barlow joined 13 other legislators, including senators Cale Case and Chris Rothfuss in co-sponsoring the measure.
The legislation was anything but a modest proposal to permit medical marijuana for patients with debilitating illnesses. The 122-page bill proposed a comprehensive recreational marijuana industry, complete with commercial cultivation facilities, marijuana processing operations, testing laboratories, transportation services, and retail stores.
Under HB0209, Wyoming residents 21 and older would have been legally permitted to purchase and possess recreational marijuana without a medical diagnosis or prescription.
The bill would have also authorized possession of up to three ounces of marijuana flower outside the home. Residents could legally cultivate as many as 12 mature flowering marijuana plants at their residences. It also authorized marijuana edibles, concentrates, and other cannabis products, along with licensed retail establishments selling marijuana directly to consumers. The legislation even contemplated marijuana micro-businesses authorized to cultivate as many as 150 plants. HB0209 was full-blown recreational use of marijuana—exactly the opposite of what Eric Barlow told The Open Range Record.
This was not simply medical marijuana legislation. It was an attempt to establish a legal recreational marijuana marketplace in Wyoming.
When Marquardt raised the possibility of using recreational marijuana taxes to offset property tax reductions, Barlow said he didn't know how much marijuana would need to be sold to replace the lost revenue.
Yet five years earlier, he had co-sponsored legislation accompanied by a fiscal analysis estimating precisely how much revenue a legalized marijuana industry might generate.
According to the fiscal note on the bill, recreational marijuana taxation could have generated approximately $46 million annually, with revenue distributed to Wyoming schools and local governments.
HB0209 advanced out of the House Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan 6-3 vote before dying when the full House failed to consider it before the legislative deadline.
A History Going Back to 2015
Barlow's involvement with cannabis legislation didn't begin in 2021. It stretches back more than a decade. In 2015, Barlow co-sponsored HB0032, Hemp extract regulation, which permitted certain patients to use cannabis-derived hemp extracts under medical supervision. The legislation established exemptions from prosecution for qualifying patients and created a registration program.
Although narrowly focused on medical treatment and distinctly different from recreational marijuana legalization, the bill marked an early example of Barlow supporting expanded legal access to cannabis-derived products. The measure ultimately became law.
Four years later, Barlow was back. In 2019, he co-sponsored HB0171, Hemp and cannabidiol regulation, which authorized hemp production, processing, possession, and use in Wyoming. Industrial hemp and CBD are legally distinct from recreational marijuana. Nevertheless, the legislation represented another significant expansion of legal cannabis-related activities in the state.
That same year, Barlow went considerably further. He became the lead House sponsor of HB0278, the Medical Cannabis Act. Unlike the earlier hemp legislation, HB0278 proposed an actual medical marijuana program, complete with licensing, regulatory oversight, and authorized possession and use of cannabis for qualifying medical purposes.
Barlow was not merely voting on legislation introduced by someone else. He was leading the legislative effort. The bill failed to advance, but his involvement established him as one of the Legislature's prominent Republican advocates for medical cannabis.
From Medical Marijuana to Recreational Legalization
Then came 2021. Barlow's co-sponsorship of HB0209 represented a substantial departure from legislation limited to medical applications. The proposal would have legalized recreational marijuana for adults, authorized personal cultivation, and established a taxed commercial industry. There was no requirement that purchasers suffer from a medical condition and no requirement for physician authorization. The proposed marketplace was explicitly designed to accommodate recreational consumers.
Barlow Continued Sponsoring Marijuana Legislation in 2022
During the 2022 legislative session, Barlow co-sponsored HB0106, Decriminalization of cannabis. This bill would have eliminated criminal penalties for possessing specified quantities of marijuana, replacing them with civil penalties. It also proposed eliminating criminal penalties for marijuana use and possession of marijuana paraphernalia.
The measure addressed recreational possession, not merely marijuana obtained for medical purposes. Under its provisions, possession of up to three ounces of marijuana flower, along with specified quantities of edibles, liquids, and concentrates, would no longer constitute a criminal offense. This represented another legislative effort to substantially reduce legal penalties associated with recreational marijuana. Barlow's name was again among the sponsors.
That same year, Barlow also co-sponsored HB0143, Wyoming medical cannabis. The legislation proposed establishing the Wyoming Patient Cannabis Act, which would have authorized cultivation, processing, manufacturing, testing, transportation, distribution, and retail sales of medical marijuana. It also established a licensing and taxation framework for medical marijuana businesses regulated through the Wyoming Department of Revenue. Once again, Barlow supported legislation that would have significantly expanded Wyoming's cannabis industry.
Even in 2024, Barlow had not categorically ruled out further marijuana decriminalization. When Democratic Rep. Karlee Provenza introduced legislation eliminating criminal penalties for possession of up to three ounces of cannabis, Barlow told Cowboy State Daily that he would consider supporting the proposal if it reached the Senate. He questioned whether the measure could survive the procedural obstacles of a budget session but did not dismiss it outright.
The Legislative Record Speaks for Itself
Taken together, Barlow's legislative history reveals sustained involvement in efforts to change Wyoming's marijuana laws. Beginning in 2015, he supported limited medical access to cannabis-derived hemp extracts. In 2019, it was industrial hemp. And in 2021 he co-sponsored full recreational marijuana. Following that, there were three other legislative efforts to fundamentally reduce penalties for possession.
That brings the discussion back to Barlow's September 22 interview. Parts of his legislative history are consistent with what he said; however, his categorical denial of any support for recreational marijuana is simply inconsistent. His legislative history tells a very different story than the one Barlow told The Open Range Record.