More than a year after an Iowa Poll showed 54 percent of Iowans favor legalizing marijuana for recreational use and 78 percent want to see the state’s Medical Cannabidiol Program expanded, Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Republicans who control the Iowa Legislature show no sign of doing either.
Earlier this month, Iowa Capital Dispatch reported Rep. Steven Holt of Dennison, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said he and his fellow Republicans aren’t even considering decriminalization or legalization.
“I think there needs to be a deterrent in the law, but I understand the logic of having discussions about what the appropriate penalties should be and that sort of thing,” Holt said. “But in terms of making marijuana legal, that is something I would never support.”
Asked about the popularity of legalization in the state, Holt said Iowa lawmakers don’t “govern based on opinion polls.”
Holt did say lawmakers may need to “delve into” why a 2020 study from the ACLU found Black people in Iowa were 7.26 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people. Only Montana, Kentucky, Illinois and West Virginia had worse racial disparities in arrests for possession.
Whatever “delve into” means, it doesn’t mean change the criminal status of marijuana possession, according to Holt.
“The law is the law,” he said. “It exists for everybody regardless of color.” [Read more at Little Village]
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