IOWA, USA — Editor's Note: The video above is from June 19, 2020.
A group of elected officials from the city level all the way up to the Iowa Statehouse announced their push to legalize marijuana Wednesday during a live press conference over Zoom.
They said Iowa's current laws criminalizing marijuana are not fairly enforced, resulting in more convictions among People of Color.
According to a 2020 study from the ACLU, Black people are 7.3 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession when both groups use it at about the same rate.
The coalition is made up of 39 elected officials across the state, but none of them are Republicans. The Republican Party controls the State House and Senate and the Governor's office.
The 2021 Iowa legislative session begins Jan. 11.