Discovery and Disclosure (June 2025)

IN THE IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR POLK COUNTY

CARL OLSEN

Petitioner,

vs.

STATE OF IOWA,

Respondent.

Case No. 05771 CVCV068508

DISCOVERY AND DISCLOSURE

Iowa R. Civ. P. 1.500 through 1.517

NOTHING TO DISCOVER

The petitioner has no discovery requests for the state. The burden on the religious freedom of the petitioner is entirely statutory. The remedy is a recently enacted statute that authorizes an individual to bring a civil action against the government.

DISCLOSURE

The petitioner believes Chapter 124 is unconstitutional on its face because it contains a religious preference embedded in statutory schedules copied from federal regulations. The federal statute does not have a religious preference in the statutory schedules. Chapter 124 omits administrative authority over schedules, again, the polar opposite (from a constitutional perspective) of the federal act. See 21 U.S.C. § 812(c)(Schedule I)(c)(12), 21 U.S.C. § 822(d), 21 C.F.R. § 1307.31.

Chapter 124 has no method of accommodating genuine and sincere religious beliefs. More recent, and equally important public health legislation, Iowa Code § 94.2(2) and Iowa Code § 139A.8(4)(a)(2), make exceptions for both medical reasons and religious beliefs. See 641 Iowa Admin. Code § 7.3(2) (“conflicts with a genuine and sincere religious belief”). Chapter 124E created a medical exception to Chapter 124 in 2017.

The petitioner believes that Chapter 124 is unconstitutional on its face because it contains a secular preference in § 401(5)(c) (referencing Chapter 124E) that excludes religious use.

The petitioner believes that Chapter 124 is unconstitutional on its face because it contains a secular preference for commercial exploitation of cannabis in § 204(7) (referencing Chapter 204) that excludes religious use.

PRIMARY EVIDENCE

FACT 1: Final Report of the Drug Abuse Study Committee to the Sixty-Fourth General Assembly of the State of Iowa (January 1971).^[1]

FACT 2: “Uniform Controlled Substances Act” 1971 Iowa Acts ch. 148 (March 5, 1971), currently codified at Iowa Code Chapter 124.^[2]

FACT 3: The decision of the Iowa Supreme Court in State v. Olsen, No. 171-69079 (Iowa July 18, 1984) (unpublished opinion).^[3]

FACT 4: “Communicable and Infectious Disease Reporting and Control Act” 2000 Iowa Acts ch. 1066 (April 7, 2000), currently codified at Iowa Code Chapter 139A.^[4]

FACT 5: “Medical Cannabidiol Act” 2014 Iowa Acts ch. 1125 (May 30, 2014).^[5]

FACT 6: “Medical Cannabidiol Act” 2017 Iowa Acts ch. 162 (May 12, 2017).^[6]

FACT 7: “Iowa Hemp Act” 2019 Iowa Acts ch. 130 (May 13, 2019), currently codified at Iowa Code Chapter 204A.^{^[7]}

FACT 8: “Medical Cannabidiol Act” 2020 Iowa Acts ch. 1116 (June 29, 2020), currently codified at Iowa Code Chapter 124E.^[8]

FACT 9: “COVID-19 vaccination requirements by employers — waiver” 2021 2nd Extra Iowa Acts ch. 0001 (October 29, 2021), currently codified at Iowa Code Chapter 94.^[9]

FACT 10: “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” 2024 Iowa Acts ch. 1003 (April 2, 2024), currently codified at Iowa Code Chapter 675.^[10]

FACT 11: “Iowa Hemp Act” 2024 Iowa Acts ch. 1176 (May 17, 2024), currently codified at Iowa Code Chapter 204.^[11]

^[1] https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/IP/255497.pdf.
^[2] https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/64.1/CH0148.pdf.
^[3] Attached to this document. Reprinted as Exhibit A in the decision of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in Olsen v. Iowa, S.D. Iowa No. 83-301-E (S.D. Iowa March 19, 1986) (unreported opinion), Not Reported in F.Supp., 1986 WL 4045 (S.D.Iowa) (a copy is attached to this document).
^[4] https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/78.2/CH1066.pdf.
^[5] https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/85.2/CH1125.pdf.
^[6] https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/87.1/CH162.pdf.
^[7] https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/88.1/CH0130.pdf.
^[8] https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/88.2/CH1116.pdf.
^[9] https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/89.1.2/CH0001.pdf.
^[10] https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/90.2/CH1003.pdf.
^[11] https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/iactc/90.2/CH1176.pdf.

SUPPLEMENTAL EVIDENCE

State, federal, and international drug laws are interconnected. The international drug treaties contain exceptions that accommodate constitutionally enacted domestic laws. Single Convention, Article 36; Psychotropic Convention, Article 22. Federal law accommodates exceptions that are consistent with public health and safety. 21 U.S.C. § 822(d).

Chapter 124 does not authorize the executive branch to accommodate additional exceptions or remove existing ones. The exceptions to Chapter 124 are all statutory. The exception for religious use of peyote in Chapter 124 was simply copied from a federal administrative regulation, 21 C.F.R. § 1307.31 (the statutory authority for this regulation is 21 U.S.C. § 822(d)).

FACT 12: Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, May 25, 1967, 18 U.S.T. 1407, 520 U.N.T.S. 151.^[12]

FACT 13: “Controlled Substances Act” Public law: 91-513, 84 Stat. 1236, 1242 (October 27, 1970).^[13]

FACT 14: Convention on Psychotropic Substances, February 21, 1971, 32 U.S.T. 543, 1019 U.N.T.S. 175.^[14]

FACT 15: Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, Public law: 91-513, 84 Stat. 1236, 1280-1281, Marijuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding, First Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, March 1972, pp. 152, 154.^[15]

FACT 16: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, Peyote Exemption for Native American Church, December 22, 1981, 5 Op. O.L.C. 403 (1981).^[16]

FACT 17: In The Matter Of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition, Docket No. 86-22, Opinion and Recommended Ruling, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decision of Administrative Law Judge. Francis L. Young, Administrative Law Judge. Dated: Sept. 6, 1988.^[17]

FACT 18: “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” Public law: 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (November 16, 1993).^[18]

FACT 19: “American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments” Public law: 103-344, 108 Stat. 3125 (October 6, 1994).^[19]

FACT 20: “Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act” Public law: 106-274, 114 Stat. 803 (September 22, 2000).^[20]

FACT 21: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, Licensing Marijuana Cultivation, June 6, 2018, 42 Op. O.L.C. 63 (2018).^[21]

FACT 22: “Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018” Public law: 115-334, 132 Stat. 4490 (December 20, 2018).^[22]

FACT 23: World Health Organization, UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs reclassifies cannabis to recognize its therapeutic uses. 4 December 2020.^[23]

FACT 24: U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Diversion Control Division, Guidance Regarding Petitions for Religious Exemption from the Controlled Substances Act Pursuant to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (Revised), November 20, 2020.^[24]

FACT 25: U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Notice of Proposed Rule Making, Registration for Religious Organizations under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, RIN: 1117-AB66, March 2022.^[25]

FACT 26: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, Questions Related to the Potential Rescheduling of Marijuana, April 11, 2024, Slip Opinion (2024).^[26]

FACT 27: U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Notice of Proposed Rule Making, Rescheduling of Marijuana, 89 Fed. Reg. 44597, May 21, 2024.^[27]

FACT 28: U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”), Drug Control: DEA Should Improve its Religious Exemptions Petition Process for Psilocybin (Mushrooms) and Other Controlled Substances May 30, 2024.^[28]