Iowa Officers Ignore Meth, Fentanyl and Violent Crime While Harassing Returning Pot Tourists

Police Lurking at Illinois Border Are Admittedly Profiling Drivers For Stoners

By: WeedClub Team, Thursday, February 6, 2020 at 7:18 AM PT

Nearly every single state in the U.S. has some form of legal marijuana as of 2020.  When Illinois legalized recreational cannabis sales starting this year, it created a new opportunity for those living in the dry state of Iowa.  Iowa's aspiring cannabis consumers could now take a drive to Illinois to stock up on legal weed.  The problem is that police are lurking by the border profiing drivers and cars as they roll by.  

Not only do the Iowa Police target their own fellow state residents as they return from their pot tourism, but Police Chief Brian Carsten's plans do not stop there.  This is because Chief Carsten is stuck in time.  Prohibition is still very alive in the Iowa law enforcement mentality.  Carsten said, "It's like looking into a crystal ball and seeing how it's going to affect you...  I may think it won't affect us at all, and six months from now I may think, 'Oh crap this really turned into something... I don't know if we're going to see a big difference because I don't think the people we're dealing with in the street and in patrol are the ones that are going to dispensaries and buying it legally,".  

By admitting to profiling drivers, Carsten is displaying the old Prohibitionist tendacies to at the very least discriminate against anyone passing through town that looks suspicious.  He goes out of his way to separate who is buying weed on the street versus his impression of the people who travel across the Mississippi River to Illinois.  What is one supposed to think when they see current law enforcement outwardly displaying a lack of respect for Iowa residents' civil rights and privacy rights.  Historically, people of color have been disproportionately arrested and punished for having cannabis.  

While Police Chief Carsten is so concerned about how legalization will affect Iowa, he should do his homework.  Meth, fentanyl and violent crime are surely more of a threat to Iowa's quality of life than innocent potheads returning home with legally purchased herb from out of state.  Another issue Iowa faces is that it had almost twice the number of farms file for bankruptcy protection in 2019.

 Iowa also has fallen behind the entire nation's economic recovery when it comes to jobs.  Jobs in rural counties are down significantly.  Legal marijuana would create jobs inherently as it has everywhere weed is legal and available to those who need it.  

Once the statistics on arrests of cannabis consumers from both the street and returnees from Illinois are available, we will be able to read deeper into the impact of Chief Carsten's position.  Are mostly people of color getting arrested? What are the officers' descriptions of why they found a driver to be suspicious?  Even the smell of pot coming from a vehicle has been ruled to be not enough evidence for law enforcement to harass people in some legal weed states.