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The Democratic Party\u2019s nominee to be the next governor of Iowa is explaining why he thinks marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol<\/a>, even if he thinks it\u2019s \u201cdangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n Legalizing and taxing cannabis can be part of solving the state\u2019s $1.3 annual\u00a0 budget deficit, Rob Sand, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, said at a town hall in Dubuque on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cMarijuana is a dangerous drug,\u201d he said. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t abuse it, but we also shouldn\u2019t throw people in prison just for using it. We should treat it the way we treat alcohol. Alcohol is a dangerous drug. You shouldn\u2019t abuse it, but we don\u2019t throw you in prison just for having a beer when you get home.\u201d<\/p>\n Sand, who is currently Iowa\u2019s state auditor, then went through a list of common objections to legalizing cannabis and detailed how he would explain his support for the reform to people who voice those concerns.<\/p>\n For people who say they don\u2019t want to smell marijuana, the candidate would say, \u201cMe neither. No smoking in public.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a pretty simple rule to have,\u201d he said. \u201cJust like alcohol, you can\u2019t be drinking it out in public, can you?\u201d<\/p>\n In response to people who express concerns about kids getting access to THC-infused gummies and candy, Sand would say, \u201cThat\u2019s a good point too. Let\u2019s ban things that are colorful and look like candy and any kind of colorful marketing that looks like it\u2019s aimed towards kids, just like we do with alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou guys remember Joe Camel? R.I.P. Joe Camel, right?\u201d he said, referring to the former cigarette mascot the that R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company stopped using in response to claims he appealed to children. \u201cWe\u2019ve done this with cigarettes. We\u2019ve done this with alcohol. We should do this with marijuana. We don\u2019t want kids to be mistaken.\u201d<\/p>\n For those who say that modern marijuana is more potent than the cannabis they smoked in the 1960s and 70s, Sand would say, \u201cOkay, I take your word for it. I have never used it myself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut how do we handle that with alcohol? Every single can of beer you buy, you can see the alcohol content by volume,\u201d he said,.\u201dHard liquor, you can see the alcohol content by volume. So we handle it by taking care of it, making it clear what you\u2019re getting into.\u201d<\/p>\n The Democratic gubernatorial candidate said that Iowa is \u201cspending perfectly good tax dollars to lock people up\u201d for marijuana while people who want to use it are driving across the border to purchase it in other states.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re spending their money in Illinois, or they\u2019re spending it in Missouri. And then they\u2019re driving back without their money,\u201d Sand said. \u201cThe money stays there, and the tax dollars stay there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo again, it\u2019s dangerous,\u201d he concluded. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t abuse it, but I think we should just treat it the way we treat alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n Sand\u2019s campaign website says that \u201cestablishing an adult-use cannabis industry in Iowa would also create thousands of full-time and part-time jobs as well as entrepreneurship and investment opportunities for Iowans and Iowa small businesses, and also support Iowa farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n It also says he would \u201creverse the prohibition of sales of consumable hemp products\u201d that incumbent Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed into law in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should reverse that law to allow sales of hemp and THC beverage products while ensuring oversight and regulation over those products by hemp producers selling their products through cannabis retailers,\u201d it says<\/a>.<\/p>\n Republican gubernatorial nominee Zach Lahn reportedly opposes legalizing cannabis but doesn\u2019t appear to have spoken extensively about the issue.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Sand\u2019s comments in support of legalizing marijuana at the town hall this week come as Iowa regulators are circulating proposed rules changes to remove the residency requirement for patients in the state\u2019s medical cannabis program<\/a> while also ensuring that military veterans qualify for reduced registration fees.<\/p>\n The residency-focused part of the regulatory change from the state Department of Health and Human Services is meant to comply with provisions of a bill that Reynolds signed into law in June.<\/p>\n In addition to allowing out-of-state residents to register in the medical cannabis program if they have a certification from an Iowa healthcare provider legislation, that legislation also doubles the number of medical cannabis dispensaries that are allowed to operate<\/a> in the state.<\/p>\n Regulators said in the new rule filing that removing the residency requirement is expected to \u201cprimarily impact qualified Nebraska residents since Nebraska is the only bordering state that does not currently have an operational medical or adult-use cannabis program.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough Nebraska has taken steps to establish a medical cannabidiol program, implementation has experienced significant delays and setbacks,\u201d the regulatory explanation says.<\/p>\n Beyond the residency change that is part of the bill the governor signed this year, the new rule change also restores regulatory language that was \u201cinadvertently removed during the 2023 Red Tape Review process\u201d that allowed proof of military veteran status to be used to qualify for a reduced patient application fee of $25 instead of the standard $100.<\/p>\n Under prior law, Iowa\u2019s limited medical marijuana program allowed only five dispensaries. That has doubled to 10 under HF 990, which the governor signed.<\/p>\n \u2014 The Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Board, which oversees the state\u2019s medical marijuana program, recommended in a 2023 report that the state allow more licenses \u201cin an effort to provide Iowans with greater geographical access to medical cannabis products<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the program, patients with certain conditions can obtain cannabis products containing no more than at 4.5 grams of THC every 90 days. Flower and smoking are not allowed. Healthcare practitioners can allow greater amounts of THC for patients who are terminally ill or who have experience with the program and for whom the provider believes 4.5 grams is not enough.<\/p>\n Separately this session, Iowa lawmakers considered a bill to create a state-regulated therapeutic psilocybin program for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last year, the governor vetoed earlier legislation that would have allowed doctors in the state to immediately prescribe a synthetic form of psilocybin<\/a>\u00a0in the event of federal approval of the psychedelic substance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), arguing that it \u201csurrenders state authority to make an informed determination about classification to federal officials.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Iowa Democratic Governor Candidate Explains Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized Even If It\u2019s \u2018Dangerous\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Democratic Party\u2019s nominee to be the next governor of Iowa is explaining why he thinks marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol, even if he thinks it\u2019s \u201cdangerous.\u201d Legalizing and taxing cannabis can be part of solving the state\u2019s $1.3 annual\u00a0 budget deficit, Rob Sand, the Democratic gubernatorialContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"featured_media":86718,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86717"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86719,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86717\/revisions\/86719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Iowa Democratic Governor Candidate Explains Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized Even If It\u2019s \u2018Dangerous\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"