Iowa Democrats Support Marijuana Law Reform

It’s been a while since I’ve writ­ten a blog post, but I gave a speech at the Global Mar­i­juana March yes­ter­day and I’m going to post my notes here.

POLK COUNTY PLATFORM
ADOPTED BY THE CONVENTION DELEGATES ASSEMBLED
MARCH 10, 2012

AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENT, AND ENERGY
Page 3, Line 95, Res­o­lu­tion 2

We sup­port: diver­si­fi­ca­tion of crops and live­stock includ­ing hemp.

GOVERNMENT AND THE LAW
Page 7, Line 277, Res­o­lu­tion 10

We sup­port: amend­ing the crim­i­nal pro­hi­bi­tion of mar­i­juana and replac­ing it with tax­a­tion, reg­u­la­tion and education.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Page 8, Line 344, Res­o­lu­tion 7

We sup­port: legal­iz­ing med­ical marijuana

March 10, 2012

Mont­gomery County adopted one res­o­lu­tion to the 2012 Iowa Demo­c­ra­tic Party 3rd Dis­trict Convention

Agri­cul­ture & Environment

U.S. Agri­cul­tural policy

Because

Hemp is a fiber crop that should be grown in the USA, not imported from Canada. It has many qual­i­ties that make it a valu­able crop: few if any pests, shades out weeds, needs very lit­tle fer­til­izer. Cot­ton is hard on the soil, needs lots of pes­ti­cides, and we can do bet­ter. Hemp oil has many good qual­i­ties as well. Because hemp has lit­tle THC, it can be grown for the fiber and oil. That hemp is good for the soil and would add one more crop for our farm­ers to use in their rotation.

Resolved

Hemp growth should be per­mit­ted in the United States.

Adopted unan­i­mous voice vote

http://www.idp3.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/MontgomeryPlatform2012.pdf

THIRD DISTRICT PLATFORM
ADOPTED BY THE CONVENTION
APRIL 28, 2012

AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENT, AND ENERGY
Agri­cul­ture
Page 2, Line 75, Res­o­lu­tion 2

We sup­port: diver­si­fi­ca­tion of crops and live­stock includ­ing hemp.

GOVERNMENT AND LAW
Page 8, Line 330, Res­o­lu­tion 36

We sup­port: the legal­iza­tion of mar­i­juana in the same man­ner as tobacco and alcohol.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Page 8, Line 365, Res­o­lu­tion 7

We sup­port: legal­iz­ing med­ical mar­i­juana.

FIRST DISTRICT DEMOCRATS
2012 PLATFORM

HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Page 14, Res­o­lu­tion 23

We sup­port: Fed­eral and State laws allow­ing med­ical use of mar­i­juana.

Demo­c­ra­tic Plat­form: Dis­trict 2
As amended and approved by
Demo­c­ra­tic Con­ven­tion
Ft. Madi­son Iowa, April 28 2012

GOVERNMENT AND LAW
Crim­i­nal Jus­tice
Page 6, Res­o­lu­tion 89

We sup­port: cannabis legal­iza­tion, reg­u­la­tion, taxation.

AGRICULTURE & ENVIRONMENT
Agri­cul­ture & Farm­ing
Page 15, Res­o­lu­tion 292

We sup­port: indus­trial hemp production.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Patient Rights
Page 21, Res­o­lu­tion 435

We sup­port: med­ical mar­i­juana.

2012 Fourth Dis­trict Platform

AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
Envi­ron­men­tally Respon­si­ble Energy and Com­bat­ing Cli­mate Change
Page 3, Line 93

We sup­port: indus­trial hemp production.

GOVERNMENT AND LAW
Drug Poli­cies
Page 15, line 633

We sup­port: legal­iz­ing mar­i­juana use, heav­ily tax­ing its pur­chase, and tightly reg­u­lat­ing its purity and tetrahy­dro­cannabi­nol (THC) con­tent to ensure as much safety as possible.

SUMMARY

Legal­iza­tion of mar­i­juana: 2, 3, and 4 (3 out of 4 plat­forms)
Legal­iza­tion of med­ical mar­i­juana: 1, 2, and 3 (3 out of 4 plat­forms)
Legal­iza­tion of hemp: 2, 3, and 4 (3 out of 4 platforms)

2011 – S.F. 266 (would legal­ize med­ical use of mar­i­juana)
Sen­a­tor Joe Bolk­com
Sen­a­tor Jack Hatch

2011 – H.F. 183 (opposes legal­iza­tion of mar­i­juana for med­ical use)
Rep. Clel Baudler, Chair, House Com­mit­tee on Pub­lic Safety
Governor’s Office of Drug Con­trol Pol­icy (refused to par­tic­i­pate in phar­macy board hear­ings on med­ical mar­i­juana in 2009)

2012 – H.F. 183 (votes against)
Ako Abdul-Samad (D, Dis­trict 66) Des Moines IA, 50314
Deb­o­rah L. Berry (D, Dis­trict 22) Water­loo IA, 50703
Ruth Ann Gaines (D, Dis­trict 65) Des Moines IA, 50313
Rick Olson (D, Dis­trict 68) Des Moines, IA, 50317
Mary Wolfe (D, Dis­trict 26) Clin­ton IA, 52732

2012 – H.F. 2270 (would legal­ize med­ical use of mar­i­juana)
Rep. Bruce Hunter (D, Dis­trict 62) Des Moines IA, 50315
Feb. 14 – referred to Com­mit­tee on Pub­lic Safety
Rep. Clel Baudler — Chair of subcommittee

Sen. Eugene Fraise (D, Dis­trict 46) Fort Madi­son IA, 52627
Sen­ate Com­mit­tee on Judi­ciary, Chair
Told the media he was going to intro­duce his own med­ical mar­i­juana bill

Sen. Mike Gron­stal (D, Dis­trict 50) Coun­cil Bluffs IA, 51503
Sen­ate Major­ity Leader
Told me med­ical mar­i­juana was going to hap­pen because Pres­i­dent Obama sup­ports it