Federal Exemption for Cannabis - September 15, 2023

September 4, 2020, the department agreed to file for a federal exemption for our state cannabis program.  See page 7 of the department’s update, September 4, 2020.

August 12, 2022, after Dr. Weber asked about it, the department agreed to give the board an update on discussions ongoing with the governor.  See page 2, of the August 12, 2022, meeting minutes; and the audio recording from the August 12, 2022, board meeting, 2 hours, 0 minutes, and 40 seconds into the recording.

There has been dead silence.

It’s a federal crime to operate a cannabis company in Iowa.  There is an enormous fee that organized crime must pay to obtain a limited number of licenses.  It’s pay to play, if willing to violate federal drug law.

We all agree we should comply with federal drug law.  The department won’t move forward with it.  We don’t know why.

The legislature is growing impatient.

Senate File 69 would create a legal task force to help the department move forward.

The suffering Iowans who need this program deserve better than this from state government.

Factors to Consider for Federal Compliance

Title 21, United States Code, Section 822(d) says the Attorney General may waive registration requirements for manufacturers, distributors, and dispensers if the Attorney General finds it to be consist with public health and safety.

• Allowing organized crime to run our cannabis program is not consistent with public health and safety.
• The legislature enacted our cannabis program to be consistent with public health and safety, leaving the details up the the department.
• The U.S. Department of Justice began telling the states it is not interested in enforcing federal drug laws against state cannabis programs in 2009, and most recently in 2013.  Why would the Department of Justice do that if it wasn’t consistent with public health and safety?
• Congress began suspending federal enforcement against state programs like ours in 2014 and has continued to do so annually.  Why would Congress do that if it wasn’t consistent with public health and safety?
• Just recently, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services determined that cannabis does not have a high potential for abuse and should be downgraded from Schedule I to Schedule III.

Why is the department ignoring federal registration requirements?  Allowing organized crime to run our program is completely contrary to public health and safety.