Kim Reynolds Didn’t “Veto Marijuana.” Stop Making Enemies Of Her And Get The Story Right.

Little known fact: Kim Reynolds isn’t our enemy to legalize medical marijuana and expand the program.

People think she vetoed marijuana expansion in Iowa — as is shown here, she absolutely did not.

Kim had an error of communication that she fixed. People working on marijuana in Iowa who don’t know the full story — this one’s for you — and we better get our facts straight on this one regarding our Governor in Iowa.

Here’s why Kim Reynolds vetoed marijuana — and how understanding this is critical so we stop casting false blame on a woman who did us no harm.

Here’s what actually happened to cause Kim Reynolds to have no choice but to veto marijuana the miscommunication that took place between lawmakers in 2019.

Carl Olsen has thoroughly documented the real reason why the Governor vetoed the 2019 bill — it was a veto that came after the cannabis advisory board objected to Rep Jarad Klein’s false statement that the advisory board had recommended a 25 gram per 90 day limit on THC.  Let’s get our facts straight.  The board never recommended what Rep Klein claimed they recommended — and when Klein put the false claim forward as a truth, the advisory board objected to that and certainly had the right to defend itself.  That board is the only door we have open to us that actually works.  Kim Reynolds protected that board. That’s the opposite of “vetoing marijuana.”

Here’s the documentation and timeline of what took place leading up to Kim Reynolds protection of our marijuana industry in Iowa:

https://iowamedicalmarijuana.org/iowa/timeline2019/

The Des Moines Register reported on March 30th 2019:

The advisory board’s chairman, Mike McKelvey, said Friday that he and Zadeh were among four board members who met with legislators.

McKelvey, a Mason City police captain, is the only non-physician on the board.  He said, like Zadeh, he was surprised to hear legislators claim board members supported the level of THC this week’s bill would allow in medical marijuana products.  That was not his recollection of what was said at the meeting with legislators.

Tony Leys and Barbara Rodriguez, Des Moines Register

Did you catch that? The advisory board did not tell legislators to legalize higher levels of THC. The legislators said the board DID legalize higher levels of THC. Kim Reynolds didn’t veto marijuana — she vetoed the miscommunication between the board and the legislator lawmakers!

You see, the Board is supposed to approve recommendations on marijuana to lawmakers, and then lawmakers follow them. The board specifically did not recommend that thc levels be increased — but lawmakers misunderstood, and when the board said no, that’s not what we meant, don’t do that, the lawmakers ignored the board. Reynolds said she supported changes to the program, but couldn’t go against what her medical advisory board was saying, and due to the confusion between lawmakers and board members, Kim Reynolds vetoed the marijuana bill. It was a veto of the miscommunication…NOT A VETO OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA.

Since then, every single thing marijuana advocates in Iowa — professional advocates and non-professionals alike — have blamed Kim Reynolds for marijuana failures. The reality is this: marijuana advocates advocacy efforts, every year since 2019, have been last minute, half-assed, and didn’t put in enough work to get anywhere.

Moving forward, if we first and critically as a movement don’t get our story straight in that Kim isn’t against medical marijuana, but is protective of her medical cannabis advisory board’s integrity, then we can stop making enemies of the most important person in this state on this issue — the Governor. Without the Governor as our friend and ally, we lose. So, stop yelling at her, Iowa! Get it together.

In 2023, bills proposed should not be announced on Facebook last minute by MedPharm on Facebook. People were not that impressed, and I wasn’t either. That’s just not how it’s done. Bills for 2023 should be drafted over the summer, announced in the fall, and presented to the public way before the legislature meets. If we don’t give ample advance notice of what we want changed, and spring ideas on lawmakers at the last minute, we have no one to blame but us, the marijuana advocates. Get it together, guys.

We’re doing good things for society and helping truly sick people get marijuana in Iowa. It’s unaffordable for the majority, and hard to access as there’s a limit on dispensaries at 5 statewide, but we’re doing good things. While in 2022, due to marijuana advocates not giving enough advance notice on their bills, and introducing bills hastily at the last moment, zero bills got through the Friday funnel deadline save the one bill that did put in the advance work — SCR 101, a bill to direct agencies in Iowa to work to gain Iowa the first in the nation federal exemption to a state marijuana program using existing federal application processes:

SCR 101 (LSB 5850XS (2) 89)

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 101

BY  ZAUN

A Concurrent Resolution urging the United States Drug Enforcement Administration to grant an exception to the classification of cannabis under schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act in Iowa.

   WHEREAS, the General Assembly has directed the Iowa Department of Public Health to request guarantees from the federal government that educational and long-term care facilities in Iowa with policies allowing patients to possess medical cannabidiol or allowing staff to administer medical cannabidiol will not lose federal funding due to such policies; and
   WHEREAS, the Iowa Department of Public Health may accomplish this goal by seeking an exception to the classification of cannabis under schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act in Iowa from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration using the procedure found in 21 C.F.R. §1307.03; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, That the Iowa General Assembly urges the United States Drug Enforcement Administration to grant an exception to the classification of cannabis under schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act in Iowa requested by the Iowa Department of Public Health for the purpose of allowing the possession and administration of medical cannabidiol at educational and long-term care facilities in Iowa; and

   BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State transmit a copy of this resolution to the Office of Diversion Control of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

This bill, SCR 101, has national implications. It got passed, because it had advance thought put into it and wasn’t filed at the last minute. It is a game-changer for the marijuana industry, and protects patients from federal interference with all sorts of problems federal law causes. That’s huge.

We didn’t lose in 2022.

We made mistakes.

Let’s never make these mistakes of last minute bills again in the future, and get the job we know we can do done for our people.

Let’s do right by our people and correct the lie that Kim Reynolds vetoed marijuana — it’s really, really hurting our cause.