Legalized marijuana proposal unveiled by Iowa Democrats

DES MOINES — Marijuana would be legal for recreational use, previous convictions for non-violent possession charges would be removed from an individual’s criminal record, and the state’s medical cannabis program would be expanded under legislation introduced Tuesday by Democratic state lawmakers.

The proposal is not likely to become state law any time soon, since Republican state lawmakers in leadership and Gov. Kim Reynolds have in the past opposed any efforts to legalize marijuana in Iowa.

Nationally, 21 states have legalized recreational marijuana, including Iowa neighbors Missouri and Illinois. Minnesota state lawmakers are considering legislation to legalize marijuana there.

“It is time,” said Iowa Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, a Windsor Heights resident and leader of the minority-party House Democrats.

Konfrst argued that legalizing marijuana would keep sales tax revenue in Iowa instead of sending it to other states, it would preserve state resources that currently go toward enforcing marijuana laws, and it would increase the quality of life for Iowans with chronic illnesses.

She also noted legal recreational marijuana use is popular with a majority of Iowa voters: 54 percent of Iowans said they support legalizing recreational pot in a 2021 Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll.

“It is across party lines. It is across the place where you live in the state: rural, urban and suburban. And it is time to do this,” Konfrst said.

House Democrats’ proposal would tax marijuana sales at 10 percent, and revenue would be split three ways: 35 percent to fund scholarships for Iowa college students, 32.5 percent to mental health services and substance abuse programs, and 32.5 percent to local law enforcement agencies.

“Imagine that kind of revenue to Iowa schools, mental health services and local public safety,” said Iowa Rep. Lindsay James, a Democrat from Dubuque, who introduced the proposal along with Konfrst.

The state agency that currently regulates alcohol laws would oversee marijuana sales in Iowa under Democrats’ proposal.

The proposal also would allow Iowans convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession — without any convictions for violent crimes — to request the courts to remove the possession conviction from their record.

James and Konfrst said House Democrats examined legal marijuana programs in other states in order to glean best practices for their proposal.

The Republicans who lead the House’s public safety and judiciary committees said the proposal will not advance in the House, where Republicans hold the agenda-setting majority.

“I have been clear in the past that I do not believe marijuana legalization is the right path forward for Iowa,” said Rep. Steve Holt, a Republican from Denison who chairs the judiciary committee. “This is not an issue that has received much support from the judiciary committee in my time as chair, and I do not expect this session to be different. Iowans have expressed a very different set of priorities to me and my Republican colleagues.”

Added Rep. Phil Thompson, a Republican from Jefferson who chairs the public safety committee, “I don’t have any interest in moving it without broad Republican support, and I don’t think we have that.”

The Democrats’ proposal was still being drafted, they said Tuesday, and thus does not yet have a bill number. Officials said they expect the bill to be filed Wednesday.

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