Libertarian candidate slams Iowa governor for staunch and racist weed policy

Through Nicolas Jose Rodriguez

Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Rick Stewart opens one of his recent TV ads by questioning Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) about her opposition to legalizing marijuana and relaxing arrests for simple possession, local media reported.

“What the hell, Kim?” he says. “Here I am in Illinois — why, just a few miles from the Iowa border — and they have legal cannabis.” Stewart said in the spot, titled “Dear Kim, ‘WEED!'”

“Our current laws in Iowa put people in rape cages for smoking marijuana,” Stewart said. “You’re going to lose your college scholarship, you’re going to lose your job, you’re going to lose your kids — you’re going to lose everything because here in Iowa, we believe cannabis is a gateway drug. Well, a gateway to what?”

Stewart is co-founder of Frontier Natural Products Co-op, an organic wholesale cooperative based in Norway, Iowa. This isn’t the first time Stewart has published an ad calling for the end of the war on drugs. “If I win, I will hunt down drug war criminals with a vengeance. Most of them are here in DC, sneaking around the convention halls. They wasted $1 trillion and decimated three generations of black Americans,” Stewart said in 2016 while running for Linn County sheriff.



While Gov. Reynolds opposes legalizing marijuana, Democratic candidate Deidre DeJear supports legalizing and regulating cannabis like alcohol for adults 21 and older. According to a 2021 poll, 54% of adults say they support the legalization of recreational cannabis in Iowa, while 39% oppose and 6% are unsure.

Hemp in Iowa

Although neighboring Illinois has legal cannabis and Nebraska, Minnesota and Missouri have decriminalized simple possession, Iowa continues to arrest people for possession of small amounts of weed. According to the Marijuana Policy Project, first offense possession carries a penalty of up to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine, which is “one of the most severe first offense penalties in the country.” Data compiled by the ACLU shows black Iowans are almost eight times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites.

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During the 2022 legislative session, Senators Joe Bolkcom (D), Janet Petersen (D), and Sarah Trone Garriott (D) proposed an amendment to the Iowa Constitution that would legalize adult-use cannabis.

Michael Franken (D), one of Iowa’s Senate nominees, has spoken out on the federal legalization of cannabis, its elimination as a controlled substance, and the incarceration of marijuana-related crimes that disproportionately affect black Iowans.

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“I consider medical use of marijuana and recreational use, controlled in a manner similar to alcohol, to be absolutely fine and long overdue,” Franken told reporters in June. “We should enact federal legislation that uses money and revenue from taxing THC for interstate commerce, just like anything else.”

Meanwhile, Iowa’s Republican Senator Chuck Grassley does not support the legalization of adult-use cannabis.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.

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