Rock Rapids, Iowa — It looks like smoking marijuana is going to be legal by the middle of next year in South Dakota. And one border-county northwest Iowa sheriff is none too happy about it.
Lyon County Sheriff Stewart Vander Stoep tells us how he feels about the situation.
(as said:) “Well, I’m quite frustrated, to be honest with you. I foresee this being a huge problem for the state of Iowa, especially for the counties that are right there by the South Dakota border. We already fight marijuana quite bad here. And now with it being legal just you know, 15-30 miles away from us. I foresee us seeing a huge uptick in marijuana use here in our county especially on the western end of the county.”
He says he’s concerned about what people are going to say when they are stopped.
(as said:) “They’re going to say, “Well I thought it was legal here because it’s legal by us.” So we’re going to have the… I always call it the… “play stupid people” who try to convince us that they had no idea that they were in Iowa or that the law was different in Iowa and I just think we’re going to see a whole lot more people being able to get it so much easier now that it’s only 30 miles away rather than driving to Colorado to get it and transporting it back here. So I just see this as a major uptick in work here at the sheriff’s office and for other departments in Iowa and it’s going to put a strain on the courts because judges are going to be put in an interesting position too because the attitude’s going to be it’s not such a big deal because it’s legal just a couple miles from here.”
Vander Stoep says Iowa citizens should think twice before going to South Dakota to get high on marijuana. He says if they then drive their vehicle back to Iowa, they could end up with an OWI for driving drugged.
(as said:) “People don’t understand… I always hear, “Well, marijuana doesn’t do a whole lot it just relaxes you.” You know, there’s problem with that it also messes up your time and space element. So you might feel that you’re driving your car at 50 mile an hour. But in reality, it may be going 70 or it could be the opposite way. You’re feeling you’re driving the car at 50 miles an hour and you could actually be driving 35, but either way when you see a stop sign coming up and a stop ahead sign… if you’re going 70, but you feel you’re going 50, by the time you put your foot on the brake, you’re through the stop sign. Because the car is going faster than what you think it is. That’s the danger about marijuana. It makes you lose your sense of time and space. And that’s my fear is we’re going to see more accidents because of it, because of the attitude that well, it’s not that big a deal and it doesn’t hurt anybody — it just makes you feel more relaxed. And to me, that’s dangerous when you get behind the wheel of a car. .”
Sheriff Vander Stoep says he thinks it will be frustrating for officers on both sides of the border. Plus, he says the Iowa Legislature will be under more pressure to change the Iowa law.
The citizens of South Dakota passed measures for both recreational and medical marijuana usage during the recent General Election. Upon formal passage, legalization will become the law on July 1, 2021.
