Iowa senators Mark Chelgren, Charles Schneider, Jason Schultz, Steven Sodders, Wally Horn, and Joe Bolkcom
Three Iowa Republican senators, Charles Schneider, Mark Chelgren, and Jason Schultz, have filed a stand alone marijuana reclassification bill in the Iowa Senate, SF 2025, this week. Two previous bills, SSB 1205 and SF 282, that would do the same thing were filed separately by two Iowa Democratic senators, Steven Sodders and Joe Bolkcom, in 2015.
The Iowa Medical Cannabis Act, SF 484, barely squeaked through last year on a heavily partisan vote (26 to 19, with one Republican and one Democrat crossing party lines), but it was amended on April 15, 2015, with an amendment, S-3123, that would reclassify marijuana. That amendment passed by a vote of 44-0-6. So, you can see there is some momentum for reclassifying marijuana in Iowa.
I am extremely encouraged that Republicans are now bringing some common sense to the table. Reclassifying marijuana does not make it legal for anything. It would take both state and federal reclassification of marijuana to make research easier, but state reclassification is a step in the right direction. Reclassification does not obligate the state to do anything further, so it should not be a difficult issue.
SF 2025 is currently pending in the Iowa Senate Committee on Judiciary, and has been assigned to a subcommittee consisting of senator Charles Schneider, Steven Sodders, and Wally Horn. Please let them know you support this bill.
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