The Democrat wants Iowa to tax and regulate cannabis like alcohol and give small and midsize family farms priority for cultivation licenses.

Iowa Governor-elect Rob Sand wants to legalize adult-use marijuana.

Sand has said publicly, and campaigned in part on his belief that a regulated market would keep some of the money Iowans now spend on cannabis in neighboring states.

The Democratic state auditor defeated Republican Zach Lahn on November 3 and will succeed Governor Kim Reynolds in January.

While Republicans retained control of both chambers of the Iowa Legislature, Sand’s election demonstrates a significant move in the direction of legalization in Iowa.

Any legalization proposal in the legislature would still need to pass both houses before arriving on Sand’s desk.

Iowa’s election results remain unofficial until the November 24 state canvass.

In true cannabis PR fashion, Sand released his cannabis plan on April 20, pointing to Illinois, Missouri, and Minnesota as states where Iowans already buy legal marijuana.

Sand contends that a regulated market could help close Iowa’s budget gap and give Iowa farmers another source of income.

   

He also criticized spending public money to jail people for using marijuana. “I think we should treat it the same way we treat alcohol,” Sand said at a September town hall, according to Radio Iowa.

Sand has stated that Iowa should bar smoking cannabis in public and require labels that clearly show how potent cannabis products are.

What Sand would allow

Sand proposes adding cannabis specialists to the state’s alcohol regulatory operation, which is now part of the Iowa Department of Revenue.

The state would license growers, manufacturers, retailers, and testing labs. His plan would limit sales to people 21 and older, give small and midsize family farms priority for cultivation licenses, and limit the number of licenses Iowa issues at launch.

It calls for child-resistant packaging, limits on advertising, and THC caps of 10 milligrams per serving and 100 milligrams per package. The written plan leaves the tax rate unspecified.

Sand also wants to roll back restrictions Reynolds signed in 2024 and allow hemp products, including THC beverages, to be sold through licensed cannabis retailers.

Iowa law currently permits qualifying consumable hemp products with no more than 4 milligrams of THC per serving and 10 milligrams per container, subject to a 0.3% total THC concentration limit.

While adult-use cannabis remains illegal under Iowa law, the state has a medical cannabis program for patients with qualifying conditions. And earlier this year, Reynolds signed House File 990, doubling the number of medical dispensary licenses – raising the cap from five to 10.