Massacre at the Iowa Statehouse

I spent some time at the State Capitol this week attending a press conference for House Study Bill 607 on February 9 and a subcommittee hearing on the bill on February 17.

I took a few pictures and made an audio recording of the hearing, but I forgot to turn on the recording device for the first ten minutes. The audio recording picks up about half way through the first witness, Dr. David Drake.

The hearing was brutal. The bill that was supposed to be on the table was House Study Bill 607, but at the beginning of the hearing they announced it has been switched for substitute amended version. I did not get a copy of the substitute amended version until the next day. They were handing something out at the hearing which could have been a printed copy of the substitute amended version, but people came prepared to speak on a bill that was no longer on the table and that was the most savage thing I’ve ever seen. The original bill included several medical conditions and the substitute amended version only had three. So, people were there who actually had illnesses that were removed from the bill while they were sitting there waiting to give their testimony. Several people had complete emotional breakdowns. It was not pretty. After this grisley affair, the subcommittee voted on the substitute amended version favorably by a vote of 3-0 and sent it to House Committee on Commerce which then voted favorably on it by a vote of 17-6.

Of particular interest to me, the rescheduling of the marijuana plant was removed from the substitute amended version. Also, of particular interest to me were the objections from Chip Baltimore, chair of the House Committee on Judiciary. Rep. Baltimore objected to the bill because it does not comply with federal scheduling. The substitute amended version removed rescheduling so it is now completely inconsistent with federal scheduling. It seems stupid to remove rescheduling, but so does getting sick people to fill a room and testify under false pretenses. I hope the photo op was worth torturing those people.