The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Chapter at Iowa State University (ISU) is collecting signatures for a letter supporting adult-use cannabis legalization in the state, Iowa State Daily reports. The group has already collected more than 3,700 signatures and hopes to collect 10,000 signatures for the letter, which would be sent to state lawmakers.
Blake Clark, president of NORML ISU, said the letter campaign is open to all state residents who “can share their voice quickly and easily” through the organization’s “simple website.”
“Most importantly,” Clark said, “voting for state legislators who support this cause will lead to the cannabis law reform we need.”
The letter calls on lawmakers to enact cannabis reforms. It cites a 2014 National Institute on Drug Abuse study that showed that 34% of 10th graders had used cannabis—despite it being illegal federally—making the substance more prevalent among this age group than the highly regulated and legal tobacco industry (23%). “However,” the letter adds, “a 2019 Center for Disease Control study showed that youth marijuana use decreased in states that legalized recreational marijuana.”
“The war on marijuana has failed. This racist drug war did not, and will not, keep marijuana out of kids’ hands.”— NORML ISU in the letter
The group has also sponsored a billboard along the I-234 highway in Des Moines to promote the petition. The billboard will be displayed until Sunday.
A March 2020 Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll found majority support— – 53%—for the reforms for the first time.
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