Even before he launched his campaign for governor almost a year ago, Rob Sand has spoken out in favor of Iowa legalizing marijuana. On Monday, the Democratic candidate released details of his proposal to legalize and regulate adult use of cannabis in the state.
“Establishing an adult-use cannabis industry in Iowa would also create thousands of full-time and part-time jobs as well as entrepreneurship and investment opportunities for Iowans and Iowa small businesses, and also support Iowa farmers,” the policy document says.
Touring Lion Bridge Brewing Company in Cedar Rapids last Thursday, Sand discussed his ideas on legalization with co-owner Quinton McClain.
“I just think we should treat it like alcohol,” Sand said. “I don’t understand why it’s complicated. We tried prohibition for alcohol. It turned out to be a really bad idea.”
“They’re both drugs. They both can be bad for you. Used in the right way, they can help you relax.”
McClain founded his craft brewery with his wife, Ana, in 2014 after moving back to Cedar Rapids from Colorado, where he had worked as a brewer. Lion Bridge quickly made its mark, winning awards for its beers, expanding its presence on taps and on grocery shelves around Iowa, while its own taproom became a popular destination in Czech Village. But Lion Bridge wasn’t immune from the plateauing sales many craft brewers around the country have experienced in recent years. Partly in response to the slowing growth of beer sales, McClain introduced MoonDream, THC-infused sparkling water sold in 16-ounce cans.
“A lot of breweries have taken that step, to keep the tanks full,” McClain explained as he showed Sand the tanks where Lion Bridge brews their beer and makes MoonDream. Sales of the zero-calorie beverage are “booming,” McClain said. “It’s a very similar way to how beer was booming when we first opened up.”
Sand is being literal when he says he wants to treat cannabis like alcohol. He proposes having the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division handle regulation of cannabis, from marijuana to THC-infused products like MoonDreams. Sand “would add cannabis experts to the already-existing division to be charged with regulating the cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, and sale of cannabis,” according to the policy outline published Monday.
“Task the division with licensing cannabis growers, manufacturers, retailers, and safety testing labs who will be the only businesses in Iowa permitted to produce, transport, and sell regulated cannabis products.”
Only adults 21 or older would be able to purchase cannabis. THC content limits would be established: 10 mg per serving, with a maximum of 100 mg per package. Restrictions would be placed on packaging design and advertising, banning cartoon characters or other imagery likely to appeal to minors. Packaging would also have to be childproof and “mention potential risks associated with cannabis use” along with “a listing of noncannabis ingredients, and an itemization of all cannabinoid and terpene ingredients specified for the product.”
Sand would also ban the sale of THC-infused gummies and other items that minors might think are candy. At Lion Bridge on Thursday, Sand said that proposed ban was in response to one of the criticisms he’d heard from many Iowans — that children might ingest gummies or other treat-like THC products by accident. Another restriction Sand said was prompted conversations with Iowans about legalization is no smoking marijuana in public, because people object to the smell.
“It should be like alcohol, no open container, so you can’t be stinking up public space,” he said.
Lion Bridge added MoonDream gummies after establishing the beverage line, but McClain said he wouldn’t object to Sand’s proposed ban. The gummies are the only Lion Bridge item not made in-house, and make up just a small portion of sales, he explained. For McClain, the most important part of Sand’s plan is the stability and predictability it would create.
Businesses selling legal products with hemp-derived THC have reckoned with major changes at the state level, from Gov. Kim Reynolds signing into law a 2024 bill to dramatically limit THC in products, to the continuing possibility she and other Republican leaders might impose further restrictions. At the federal level, a last-minute addition to a bill to end last year’s 43-day-long government shutdown would effectively ban hemp-derived cannabis products.
The ban is scheduled to take effect in November, although McClain said he’s hopeful that Congress will act to reverse it, or reach a last-minute agreement to delay enforcement that would give Iowa a chance to legalize adult-use cannabis — assuming, that is, Sand wins the governor’s race. The leading candidate for the Republican nomination, Rep. Randy Feenstra, was one of the members of Congress who supported closing the so-called “hemp loophole.”
Sand believes legalization would bring important economic benefits to Iowa. His campaign estimates, based on the impact of legalization in similar states, it could create 7,000 jobs. Sand also sees it creating new income streams for Iowa farmers.
According to Sand’s policy proposal, as governor he “would prioritize the issue of grow licenses for small and mid-size family farms to help support them and manage the amount of initial licenses being issued across the state.”
“The more we can give people who are trying to get started with a small or midsize farm a niche, where they can find some profitability, get a toehold, and go from there, the better,” he told Little Village after the brewery tour.
Sand added, “Ninety percent of farm incomes go to the biggest 10 percent of farmers, they are doing just fine. We do not need to help them make more money.”
One group that might not benefit from Sand’s approach to legalization is people who have convictions for simple possession on their records, and are still dealing with the problems that can create. Expungement of prior convictions for simple possession that don’t involve violence is typically seen as a necessary part of legalization by advocates. Offering the possibility of erasing otherwise minor convictions is something most states have done as part of legalization, or soon afterwards. Sand isn’t committed to expungement.
“It’s a conversation I’m willing to have,” he said when asked on Thursday. “I think there are fair points on both sides of things.”
“On the one hand you’ve got people who say if we’re going to make it legal, then we shouldn’t be punishing people for using it. On the other hand, it was illegal when they got caught doing it. So, I think this is stuff that would have to get sorted out in a conversation with the Iowa Legislature.”
Whenever he discusses the policies he wants to implement as governor, Sand points out that he will be dealing with a Republican-controlled legislature if he wins, so he’ll have to negotiate with leaders from the other party to make any important changes. But he said he thinks there is bipartisan support for expungement in the legislature. Still, if the support doesn’t materialize, he won’t insist on expungement as part of legalization.
Sand said he believes that Gov. Reynolds’ opposition to legalization has played a major role in Republican leaders even refusing to bring up legalization bills for discussion.
“Kim Reynolds said she will not be the governor to legalize marijuana,” Sand said. “I think she had to lay that out there because there’s a lot of people in her own party who want it legalized. That’s voters and elected officials.”
“Also, my goodness, we have a $1.3 billion budget deficit right now,” he continued. “The people who created it, who’ve been in charge, are going to have to find ways to fix it.”
Sand called the tax revenue legalization would create “one of the closest things we have to a silver bullet to address that.”
“How many hundreds of millions of dollars every year do Iowans bring to Missouri, do they bring to Illinois, and spend” on legal cannabis products? Sand asked. “We want to keep money in Iowa, we should be keeping money in Iowa. It would help grow our economy, it would help increase personal incomes, we would stop spending money on giving people three-hots-and-a-cot just for smoking pot, and it’ll help fill our budget deficit.”
“This to me is kind of a no-brainer.”
