Thoughts from the void: Cannabis and Iowa

Iowa appears to have a medical cannabis industry that recent;y added pedatric autism to its list of qualifying conditions for cannabis based treatment. but one in which there is a cap of 3% on the delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol(THC) content in the medical cannabis prescribed.

THC has many medical benefits as is increasingly being proven in scientific studies and to blindly try and keep its level to below 3% is to greatly restrict the range of medical conditions that can be treated with cannabis. In fact natural cannabis found world wide typically has THC in the range of 3% - 6%.

Cannabis as a recreational drug also offers a less harmful option as compared to alcohol and tobacco which are legal recreational options that are available to the people of Iowa. Both are known neurotoxins and account for a large number of fatalities worldwide. Hemp is cultivated in Iowa but smokable hemp is banned since it cannot be distinguished from marijuana easily. This is ironic because both smokable hemp and marijuana, essentially the same thing, are great alternatives to tobacco and their availability can help large numbers of people to lower their tobacco intake. Also keeping cannabis out of the options available to people for medical or recreational use only leads to abuse of more dangerous drugs such as opioids, methamphetamine, non-prescription use of pharmaceutical drugs, heroin, cocaine, synthetic cannabinoids, novel psychotropic substances, etc.

The state of Iowa will do well to understand the changes happening in the rest of the US where at least 35 US states have legalized cannabis for medical use so far. The federal US government however continues to keep cannabis in the Schedule 1 list of banned substances saying that it has no medicinal value. The list of US states that have legalized adult recreational cannabis is available here. All these states have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, aimed specifically at improving public health, ensuring equity, reducing crime, decreasing the black market, improving law enforcement, reforming criminal justice, improving the economy, agriculture and industry, to name just a few reasons.

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.

'Currently, Iowa is among 12 U.S. states banning the sale of smokable hemp flower, though no other state levels criminal penalties for simple possession (in Louisiana, selling prohibited hemp can net a $300 fine for a first offense, though neither retailers nor consumers are subject to jail time).

A common reason for banning smokable hemp is the plant’s close resemblance to cannabis. Lacking a test from a certified lab, it is practically impossible for law enforcement to distinguish between hemp and cannabis flower, leading to confusion, added complexity, and time spent if seized in transport.

Thus — though the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed a system for hemp operators to confirm their legitimacy — most states have opted instead for an outright ban of hemp flower.'
https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/smokable-hemp-leaves-lack-of-clarity-in-the-hawkeye-state/