Medical marijuana is popular with everyone, except Iowa lawmakers

This is one of the few issues a majority of Iowans agree on, but Iowa lawmakers are expected to go another year without substantial action.

According to a Des Moines Register / Mediacom, a whopping 78 percent of Iowans support expanding the medical cannabis program to include more diseases, while only 14 percent oppose it Iowa Poll released last week. It’s hard to find another policy proposal in Iowa with such widespread support.

Politicians can only dream of being so popular. According to the latest poll in Iowa, Governor Kim Reynolds has 46 percent approval and President Joe Biden 47 percent.

Some of the bills that Republicans are pushing this year are flooded in terms of public support – shortening the early term

(42 percent), changing the state constitution to not recognize abortion rights (31 percent) and reducing unemployment benefits for laid-off workers (17 percent).

Only two policy proposals come close to the popularity of medical marijuana in the registry’s final round of polls: increased penalties for those who attack law enforcement officers (75 percent) and a ban on police profiling (70 percent). The governor proposed both at the beginning of the legislature, but Republican lawmakers are only interested in the former.

Surprisingly, medical cannabis is more popular with Iowans than Donald Trump with Republicans in Iowa. If Trump goes for the GOP nomination in 2024, 61 percent of Republican caucusgoers in Iowa would support him, according to a Poll this month by Victory Insights.

How is lawmaker responding to public calls for a better marijuana program? You are not.

Iowa has one of the weakest systems in the country, leaving a small number of people with limited products at some pharmacies.

Only have about 5,000 iowans active medical cards Last month. The law calls for five pharmacies and two manufacturers across the country, but we are not even in operation This low capacity as companies find they cannot stay afloat under the weight of extreme Iowa regulations.

The state is currently in the process of licensing two more pharmacies and a second manufacturer. Hopefully they’ll stick with it.

Republicans who control Iowa lawyers are unwilling to take significant action against medical cannabis this year.

Legislators considered an invoice To improve the program, lower patient and company fees, raise the five pharmacy limit, and authorize mobile pharmacies. While it wouldn’t expand the number of conditions covered, it could improve access by allowing up to one marijuana dispensary per county. It still wouldn’t be a robust program, but it would be an improvement.

This bill has stalled since it was approved by a bipartisan body in February. Apart from the medical programLegislation to lower penalties for possession of marijuana faces great opportunities, and more aggressive bills decriminalizing marijuana have been introduced but not taken up.

Under Iowa’s medical cannabis system, a patient in Keokuk has to take a nearly three-hour drive to Waterloo for medication. But it’s only about an hour to Quincy, Illinois, where they could purchase a much wider selection of recreational products to return home illegally.

adam.sullivan@thegazette.com; (319) 339-3156