DES MOINES, Iowa — Don Murphy, director of federal policies and conservative outreach for the Marijuana Policy Project, will be riding during Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) to share MPP’s plan for ending federal cannabis prohibition. Cycling more than 420 miles from the Missouri River to the Mississippi, Murphy will be wearing a jersey which reads, “End the REEFER MADNESS, Ask Me How.” He will be joined by Howard Wooldridge, a co-founder of LEAP, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, who will be wearing a jersey which reads, “COPS say Legalize POT, Ask Me Why.” Both Murphy and Wooldridge will be participating in RAGBRAI for the first time.
WHEN: Saturday, July 20 through Saturday, July 27
WHERE: Council Bluffs, IA to Keokuk, IA
“Iowa is ground zero for ending the drug war,” Murphy says, “because it is the only state with two majority members on the Senate Judiciary Committee (Senators Grassley and Ernst). This gives Iowa voters the greatest role in supporting criminal justice bills in Congress.”
“No drug policy reform happens in Washington without the support of Senators Grassley and Ernst,” says Wooldridge. “Any support by voters back home will be magnified exponentially on Capitol Hill,” he added.
Both riders will be encouraging Iowans to call their senators and ask them to support the STATES Act, Senate Bill 1028 (the Strengthen the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act), and respectfully share their personal stories or those of loved ones who benefited from medical marijuana or whose lives were ruined by the over-zealous enforcement of our country’s failed war on drugs.
Additionally, they are encouraging voters in the Iowa Caucuses to tell candidates to make ending federal prohibition a priority. “Caucus voters can have a very loud voice when it comes to changing federal drug policy,” said Murphy. “We encourage them to use it,” added Wooldridge.
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Don Murphy is a former member of the Maryland General Assembly (1995-2003). He was the original sponsor of Maryland’s first medical marijuana bill in 2000. He is a former local GOP party chair and delegate to the 2000, 2008, and 2016 RNC Conventions.
Howard Wooldridge is a retired police officer and detective from Lansing, Michigan (1976-1994). He has also ridden a bike and a horse across the country on two separate occasions to advocate for drug policy reform.
The Marijuana Policy Project is the nation’s largest cannabis policy organization. It has been a leading advocate for federal cannabis policy reform since its founding in 1995, and it has played a leading role in most major state-level reforms that have occurred over the past two decades. For more information, visit https://www.mpp.org.
