Iowa's overbearing regulation of cannabis products, including for supervised medical use, has produced impatience and frustration for years. Now it's led the state into an avoidable dustup with consumers and retailers over how edible products that include the psychoactive ingredient THC can be packaged and sold.
The episode includes the specter of the government threatening to enforce rules it hasn't managed to finish writing, which is one element of a pair of lawsuits.
Officials need to take steps now to help untangle all this. But in the bigger picture, the situation highlights the urgency of taking a fresh look at all of Iowa's marijuana-related laws to see whether they're truly protecting the public.
The chorus of voices on board with legal recreational use of marijuana now includes three of Iowa's neighbors and Statehouse Democrats who proposed legislation last year to move Iowa in that direction. If Republicans can give a hearing to a plan to define "man" and "woman" in Iowa Code, they can hold a hearing in 2025 to at least listen to supporters on this topic, after the GOP presumably retains control of the Legislature. And, at a bare minimum, it's time for lawmakers to peel back some red tape on both the medical cannabis program and hemp regulations.
Read more at desmoinesregister.com