DES MOINES – State Senator Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City today announced he is preparing legislation to end marijuana prohibition in Iowa.
“Marijuana prohibition in Iowa has failed and we need a better approach,” Bolkcom said. “The hundreds of millions spent on police, courts, and prisons have not made Iowans significantly safer or healthier than states that have ended marijuana prohibition. In addition, while Black Iowans use marijuana at the same rate as White Iowans, they are four times more likely to be prosecuted for doing so. This is one reason why Iowa has one of the nation’s most racially biased records when it comes to who we send to jail.”
Bolkcom said regulating marijuana like alcohol would also create new businesses, jobs and economic activity in the state of Iowa.
“The 80 million Americans living in the states that already regulate marijuana like alcohol live just like we do here in Iowa,” Bolkcom said. “The only difference is that adults in those states can legally purchase and consume marijuana, a product that is less addictive and lethal than alcohol.”
Bolkcom said the challenges of regulating the use of marijuana are similar to those involved in regulating alcohol.
“Like smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol, using marijuana is harmful to the health of teenagers,” said Bolkcom. “Teen use of marijuana must be aggressively discouraged and prevented, just as we do now with our anti-tobacco and anti-alcohol campaigns. My legislation directs that taxes from the sale of legal marijuana will should be used to intensify and improve our anti-smoking and anti-drinking public health campaigns.”
Bolkcom said failure to end marijuana prohibition will cost Iowa jobs, new businesses and millions in lost tax dollars. He pointed to the fact that other Midwestern states like Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois are moving towards legal marijuana regulation.
“Within two years, Illinois will have ended marijuana prohibition and adopted the regulation approach,” Bolkcom said. “As long as Iowa clings to the failed marijuana prohibition approach, we will lose jobs, dollars and people to Illinois and other states that adopt a fact-based approach to this issue.”
Top reasons to regulate marijuana in the same way that Iowa regulates alcohol
Marijuana prohibition hasn’t worked and hurts
taxpayers and everyday Iowans.
Marijuana prohibition is ineffective and expensive.
While law enforcement and the court system have done
their best to enforce prohibition, prohibition has not
made Iowans significantly safer or healthier.
Despite this, Iowa spends millions each year to arrest,
prosecute, jail, imprison and punish thousands of nonviolent
Iowans for possessing a product that is less
toxic, less addictive and less lethal than alcohol.
By legalizing and regulating the sale of marijuana to
Iowa adults, we can refocus our criminal justice system
on serious crime and expand substance abuse
treatment programs.
While regulating marijuana will bring its own set
of challenges, these challenges are less harmful to
Iowans than prohibition.
Iowa’s continued criminalization of marijuana imposes a
heavy burden on Iowa families in the form of lost jobs,
legal bills, jail time, broken families, violence and crime.
Despite this, marijuana remains available to almost
anyone that seeks it. Iowans know that it’s less toxic,
less addictive and less lethal than the alcohol available
at every Hy‐Vee, Casey’s and Kum and Go.
Iowa should not keep spending millions and millions
each year to arrest, prosecute, jail and punish
thousands of Iowans for possessing a substance less
harmful than legal alcohol.
Marijuana regulation hasn’t led to increased use
among teenagers
Like cigarette and alcohol consumption, teen use of
marijuana must be aggressively discouraged and
prevented.
According to the most comprehensive government
surveys in each state, no state that regulates marijuana
for adults has seen an overall increase in teen marijuana
use. In fact, most of the data indicates slight decreases
in teen use.
Marijuana is objectively less harmful than alcohol
to the consumer and to society
Adults should not be punished for making the safer
choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol, if that is
what they prefer.
Researchers have consistently concluded that marijuana
is less toxic than alcohol, has less potential for
addiction, and is less likely to contribute to serious
medical problems.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reports that there are more than 30,000 alcoholinduced
deaths per year, including more than 2,000
from acute overdose. It reports zero marijuana‐induced
deaths each year and there has never been a verified
marijuana overdose death.
Enforcement of marijuana laws is inherently
biased by race and income
The enforcement of marijuana prohibition is grossly
unequal. Low income and Black Iowans are
disproportionally arrested and prosecuted.
Black Iowans are four time more likely to be arrested
for marijuana even though Blacks and Whites both use
marijuana at similar rates. A law that is not enforced
equally is an unfair law and erodes trust in our justice
system.
Regulating Marijuana Will Undermine the
Underground Market
Regulating marijuana like we regulate alcohol will
undermine Iowa’s illegal underground market for
marijuana. Without state regulation, Iowa’s illegal
underground‐market will continue to profitably operate
unregulated and untaxed in the shadows.
Regulation means control. Unlike licensed businesses,
illegal sellers operate anywhere and sell to minors.
Their product is not tested for purity, potency, or
contamination. In addition, illegal sellers often also sell
drugs that are much more addictive and harmful.
Regulating the marijuana market is objectively safer and
less harmful than allowing the illegal market to be
unchallenged.
Ten states now regulate marijuana like alcohol
Ten states, the home to 80 million Americans now
regulate the use of marijuana by adults (21 years of
age). Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont,
Washington and the District of Columbia now regulate
adult use of marijuana.
Regulated marijuana is coming to the Midwest
In November, voters in Michigan approved regulated
marijuana use for adults. The newly elected Governors
of both Minnesota and Illinois are calling on their states
to follow suit. Illinois is likely to replace marijuana
prohibition with marijuana regulation by the summer of
2020.
Regulating Marijuana will create new Iowa
businesses, jobs and tax revenue
Regulating marijuana in Iowa will create new businesses
and an estimated 4,000‐7,000 new Iowa jobs across the
state. In addition, estimates are that Iowa’s state and
local governments would gain between $40 to $70
million each year in new revenue.
Sixty‐two percent of Americans support regulating
marijuana like alcohol
http://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/
2018/10/08/americans‐support‐marijuanalegalization/