iowa

By God Discussion

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson is running for president on the Republican ticket.  Despite the fact that he is the only candidate who has a high favorable rating in his state, Johnson is not well-known.

Johnson's approach is businesslike, looking at the financial bottom line.  Unlike the other Republican candidates, he does not discuss religion and believes in the separation of church and state.  Johnson is the only candidate who has publicly said that gays and lesbians should have civil rights, that marijuana should be legalized, and that women should have the right to choose.

As to marijuana, he points out that a staggering $40 billion is spent each year in the war on drugs for non-violent marijuana offenses and that zero people have died as a result of marijuana overdose. Read more »

BY JUSTIN SUGG

Our esteemed Editorial Board — of which I am a member — advocated medical marijuana’s legalization on Oct. 9. In an interview with Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, he talked with passion about the need to legalize medical marijuana but hesitated to support recreational use. He said Iowa was not ready to legalize recreational marijuana, and the Editorial Board agreed.

I agree Iowa should legalize medical marijuana, but only because everyone should be able to use it.

That’s not to say I believe marijuana has limited medicinal benefits. In fact, I have very personal reasons to advocate medical marijuana use. My mother suffers from glaucoma and has terrible headaches from the pressure. Many times she goes without sleep from the pain and takes large doses of ibuprofen to little avail. She hesitates (rightly so) to take stronger medication because of adverse effects. Marijuana is known to reduce glaucoma pressure and could effectively treat my mother’s ailments. Read more »