Bill Text: IA HCR104 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A concurrent resolution urging Congress and the President of the United States to reclassify cannabis as a schedule II controlled substance under the United States Controlled Substances Act.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 21)

Status: (N/A - Dead) 2018-01-18 - Laid over under Rule 25. H.J. 121. [HCR104 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-HCR104-Introduced.html

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House Concurrent Resolution 104 - Introduced

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               HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO.    
            BY  WESSEL=KROESCHELL, LENSING, STAED, OLSON,
        STECKMAN, KRESSIG, MEYER, JACOBY, McCONKEY, WINCKLER,
           HUNTER, ANDERSON, RUNNING=MARQUARDT, R. SMITH,
        ABDUL=SAMAD, FORBES, BENNETT, BROWN=POWERS, ISENHART,
                        H. MILLER, and KURTH
  1  1 A Concurrent Resolution urging Congress and the
  1  2    President of the United   States to reclassify
  1  3    cannabis as a schedule II controlled substance under
  1  4    the United States Controlled Substances Act.
  1  5    WHEREAS, while Iowa and 28 other states and the
  1  6 District of Columbia have enacted laws allowing
  1  7 the regulated use of medical cannabis for numerous
  1  8 debilitating medical conditions, including but not
  1  9 limited to cancer; multiple sclerosis; seizures,
  1 10 including those characteristic of epilepsy; AIDS or
  1 11 HIV; Crohn's Disease; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis;
  1 12 and Parkinson's Disease, cannabis use remains illegal
  1 13 under the United States Controlled Substances Act; and
  1 14    WHEREAS, cannabis is currently classified by
  1 15 the federal Drug Enforcement Agency as a schedule I
  1 16 controlled substance under the United States Controlled
  1 17 Substances Act, a classification that impedes
  1 18 large=scale medical and scientific research on the
  1 19 effects of cannabis; and
  1 20    WHEREAS, a schedule I controlled substance is
  1 21 a highly addictive substance that has no accepted
  1 22 medical use in the United States, such as heroin, and a
  1 23 schedule II controlled substance is a highly addictive
  1 24 substance that has an accepted medical use in the
  2  1 United States, such as fentanyl; and
  2  2    WHEREAS, substances classified as a schedule
  2  3 II controlled substance may be dispensed with a
  2  4 prescription under certain circumstances and are
  2  5 subject to large=scale research, testing, and
  2  6 manufacturing; and
  2  7    WHEREAS, there is a significant lack of medical and
  2  8 scientific research on medical cannabis by industries,
  2  9 universities, research institutions, and federal
  2 10 agencies, including but not limited to the Food and
  2 11 Drug Administration in the United States due in part to
  2 12 the fact that cannabis is classified as a schedule I
  2 13 controlled substance; and
  2 14    WHEREAS, the United States Surgeon General's
  2 15 reports on the health consequences of tobacco use in
  2 16 the United States over a 50=year period are based on
  2 17 scientifically rigorous reviews and analyses of data
  2 18 on the prevalence, causes, effects, and implications
  2 19 of tobacco use in the United States and reclassifying
  2 20 cannabis as a schedule II controlled substance
  2 21 would allow for a similar rigorous scientific review
  2 22 of clinical research and testing by industries,
  2 23 universities, research institutions, and federal
  2 24 agencies on the potential benefits of medical
  2 25 cannabis; and
  2 26    WHEREAS, the classification of cannabis by the
  2 27 federal Drug Enforcement Agency as a schedule I
  2 28 controlled substance causes the possession, sale, or
  2 29 use of cannabis to trigger federal statutes, including
  2 30 federal forfeiture provisions; and
  3  1 WHEREAS, concerns about the criminality and
  3  2 forfeiture provisions in federal law impede traditional
  3  3 banking institutions from doing business with potential
  3  4 clients who cultivate, research, sell, or use cannabis
  3  5 and its derivatives, therefore making cannabis commerce
  3  6 very difficult; and
  3  7    WHEREAS, the inability to utilize traditional
  3  8 banking institutions impedes state and local
  3  9 governments from adequately monitoring cannabis use,
  3 10 and shortchanges the respective taxes owed to state
  3 11 and local governments, potentially costing hundreds of
  3 12 millions of dollars in lost tax revenue; and
  3 13    WHEREAS, because cannabis businesses are unable
  3 14 to legally utilize traditional banking institutions,
  3 15 many cannabis businesses resort to the black market
  3 16 and organized crime, making communities less safe; NOW
  3 17 THEREFORE,
  3 18    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
  3 19 THE SENATE CONCURRING, That the Iowa General Assembly
  3 20 respectfully urges the Congress of the   United States to
  3 21 enact legislation to reclassify cannabis as a schedule
  3 22 II  controlled substance under the United States
  3 23 Controlled Substances Act; and
  3 24    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That an official copy of
  3 25 this resolution be transmitted to the President of
  3 26 the United States, the Surgeon General of the United
  3 27 States, the President and Secretary of the United
  3 28 States Senate, the Speaker and Clerk of the United
  3 29 States House of Representatives, and to members of the
  3 30 Iowa congressional delegation.
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