This harvest season, pumpkins and apples aren’t the only autumn commodities available to pick yourself in Johnson County.

Now in rural Oxford, pick-your-own hemp is available — at least for a couple weekends — at one of Iowa’s hemp farms. On Sept. 18 and 19, hundreds of visitors flocked to Carriage House Hemp Farm, where hemp farmer Mark Wright helped them clip and bag the right flower buds to take home. Another pick-your-own weekend was also planned recently.

So, why not let them pick it, he asked himself.

Iowa should legalize recreational marijuana, and the federal government should eliminate barriers to marijuana recreational use as determined by the states. I am not advocating marijuana use any more than I advocated tobacco use in 2000 when I introduced in Congress a bipartisan bill to allow tobacco regulation by the Food and Drug Administration. That bill served as a guide for FDA regulation of tobacco.

There are many things to consider: health concerns, substance abuse, crime, road safety, economic outcomes, and budget impacts, among others.

As a close cousin to marijuana, hemp was swiftly and severely regulated and restricted with the passing of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970. A part of Nixon’s “War on Drugs,” it placed cannabinoids like marijuana and hemp in the most dangerous category: “Schedule 1,” the most addictive substances with the least evidence of health benefits. That’s right alongside heroin, and above cocaine and meth.

Hemp and marijuana are both cannabis plants, but they are classified differently based on one important chemical—THC. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the intoxicating compound in cannabis that causes a high when introduced to the body. Hemp contains 0.3% or less of this chemical, making it non-intoxicating. Marijuana, however, can contain up to 30%. 

Iowa State professor Jacek Koziel's exposure to research on the smell of marijuana happened while assisting a former Ph.D. student with her mapping of the substance's compounds.

Koziel remembers thinking "Oh yea, this is intense," as he saw three large canvas bags of police-confiscated marijuana, donated to their research at the State Forensics Laboratory in Ankeny. The student, Somchai Rice, now an Iowa State researcher, delved into similar projects with heroin and cocaine, creating an extensive library of compounds in the substances.

DES MOINES, Iowa —

A recent Iowa Poll reports a majority of Iowans who would be in favor of legalizing marijuana.

A bill in the Iowa Senate that would loosen Iowa’s marijuana penalties has bipartisan support from lawmakers.

SF 533 would lower the legal penalty for first time offenders possessing less than five grams of marijuana in Iowa to a simple misdemeanor, translating to a maximum sentence of 30 days in prison and a fine between $105 – $855. Current state laws could result in up to six months of imprisonment and $1,000 in fines.

The bill has received bipartisan support and was originally introduced by Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale. It was unanimously passed in a Senate Committee on March 3, meaning the bill can be called for a full vote on the Senate floor.

Marijuana should be legalized for recreational purposes in Iowa among adults.

The illegal cannabis market in this country is estimated to total about $50 billion a year (National Affairs, 2020). A legal product could help eliminate that dangerous illegal market with legitimate access and the stabilization of appropriate chemical composition.

Regulatory hurdles, backbreaking work and an uncertain market. Top that off with then having your crop destroyed and it was a really crappy season for some hemp farmers in the US state of Iowa.

The Des Moines Register reported last week reported approximately 13% of Iowa farmers’ hemp crops had to be fully or partially destroyed because the plants were “hot” – THC levels exceeded 0.3%, the maximum level permitted under state and federal laws.

The number of patients in Iowa’s medical marijuana program fell by one-third during the COVID-19 pandemic because patients couldn’t see their doctors or go to driver’s license centers to get cannabidiol registration cards, officials said.

Iowa averaged about 360 patients per month in its medical marijuana program between June 2019 and March, when Gov. Kim Reynolds asked Iowans to stay home to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, Owen Parker, program manager told the Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Board Friday.

Patient numbers averaged 244 per month for April, May and June so far, he said.