It’s Friday, Apr. 4, 2025.

🗣️ TGIF: Time for the Reader Sound-Off, where you get your say!

But first: We’re bringing back the Pet Photo of the Week! I’ll start running them weekly on Fridays with your letters, so keep sending your pet photos my way!

This guy with the sun in his eyes, according to reader Douglas N., is “Foster Dog Rex, age 8, (an) English/American bulldog cross. He sleeps, he farts, he snores and slobbers.” The dream!

Of being in the newsletter, Douglas writes, “He’ll love the attention. Maybe enough that he can quit stopping cars to get his pets in.”

I would definitely stop for Rex. Let’s get to your letters!

Readers are invited to add to the conversation by emailing responses@iowastartingline.com. Please include your first name and last initial. You may also want to include your city, but that’s up to you.

This week, we asked: Which toilet paper method is better?

The B’s easily took it, with 14 votes:

• “B. That way it is easier to grab and take.” ~Steve N.

• “B definitely, but consistency is most important.” ~Bonny H.

• “Why would one reach behind the toilet roll to tear off the tissues? Accessibility is easier with access away from the wall.” ~Steve H.

• “‘B’ of course, who wants their tpaper hanging against the wall the whole way—ugh!” ~Donna M.
• “But don’t worry, if you forget and go with A and I am ever at your house or establishment, I’ll happily switch it for you. Every time. I mean it. Seriously, just go with B and save us both the trouble.” ~Mark S.

A only got one vote, but others were willing to compromise:

• “I guess I’m TP ambidextrous. Whichever way it’s installed on the roller, I’m good.” ~Steve K.

• “My answer to the TP question: https://www.prairielights.com/book/9780394865805” ~Jeff S.

• “B, unless you have a cat. Then it’s A, to make it more difficult to unroll!” ~Bruce A.

• “B unless you have small children or cats that ‘bat’ at the toilet paper. If you hang it the ‘A’ (under) way they can bat away and the tp stays put. If you hang it the ‘B’ way you have tp all over the place.” ~Janette B.

• “I was always taught that it depended on the relationship of the tissue holder to the toilet: if beside to right and low [over], if high [under]; if beside to left and low [over] and high [under]; if on the wall in front [over] always.” ~Clare S.

Next week’s question:

Some say May 1, others wait for Mother’s Day weekend. But with a warming climate, the best date to start new plants might be getting earlier and earlier in Iowa.

When do you put new plants in your garden?

Protests:

• “I have a hard time keeping track of where what information is available. Are you aware of the Indivisible event in Lincoln Park in Waterloo at 1:30 Saturday, April 5? Have you promoted it?” ~Calvin H.
  (NOTE: Here’s that information, plus 17+ more Hands Off events in Iowa happening tomorrow.)

Focus on elections:

• “How about setting up DEM Voter Registration Drives every other Sunday? MARCHES NEVER WON AN ELECTION!!!!!!! Only voters win elections. Basic Politics High School class 101.“ ~Joel G.
  (NOTE: Not that folks can’t do both, but I found an NIH study that might be relevant: “Do political protests mobilize voters? Evidence from the Black Lives Matter protests.”)

Are we a democracy?

• “In the Instagram video of people protesting a Tesla dealership, there were several mentions of ‘losing our democracy’ and ‘supporting the Constitution,’ yet these folks seem oblivious to the fact that the United States is NOT a democracy but a constitutional republic and the fact that a huge majority of federal agencies are not included in the Constitution’s delegated powers of the federal government. It’s too bad that our public schools don’t teach civics, history, or government any longer—or was that the goal of government public schools in the first place?” ~Jim H.
  
  (NOTE: The United States is, indeed, a democracy. We the Veterans lays out what this argument is actually all about; namely: “Anyone who tells you that you don’t live in a democracy might have an agenda to undermine your fundamental right to choose your leaders.”
  Also, the Constitution does give Congress “substantial power to establish federal government offices.”)

Correction:

• “Your ‘Here’s How’ link should be Medicaid, not Medicare. Obviously, you can’t fix a sent email, but I thought you might like to know in case it shows up on a web page somewhere.” ~Jim K.
  (NOTE: You’re right, Jim, thanks!)

Remembering when Iowans fought for their country:

• “I was at Shiloh Battlefield when I took this photo. I’m a recently divorced Iowan (from the state, not my wife) who still has a soft spot for my former home, much as I might a dear loved one with dementia. Perhaps this photo and the story of brave soldiers who died there for freedom might come in handy as a reminder to those of us who still care about our country.” ~Kurt K.

Letter of the Week: Iowa should expand medical cannabis

• “I began experiencing the symptoms in 1998. At first, they were somewhat infrequent, but annoying—and very painful. My left leg would spasm in the middle of the night and send shooting spikes of pain through my foot, and my hand would curl up uncontrollably in a tense, wrenching fist. It would be 16 long years before doctors finally confirmed my diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2014. During those years, the disease had been slowly chipping away at my life.

   

  It is difficult for people without a challenging illness to understand how it can truly steal your life away from you. I was a serial entrepreneur with a hectic professional life for the majority of my adult life. I was also an avid racquetball player, runner, and private pilot. And in the home inspection business I founded in 2000, I was constantly climbing up onto roofs and performing other physical tasks on a daily basis.

   

  Today, MS has taken most of that away from me. But, fortunately, medicinal cannabis has prevented it from completely robbing me of the life I once enjoyed. The passage of House File 950 will provide other Iowans with the same opportunity to continue living the lives they enjoy.

   

  For years, however, I didn’t have that option. Throughout the long process of searching for an accurate diagnosis, physicians along the way prescribed a litany of opioids designed to help ease my pain and symptoms. Each of these came with its own long list of harmful side effects. The most alarming, of course, was the potential for addiction. Diagnosed with a debilitating disease and facing a lifetime of opioid dependence, I traveled to Colorado with my wife to visit a cannabis dispensary. What happened next was a surprise for both of us.

   

  The cannabis worked. And not only did it work, but it worked quickly—providing nearly instant relief when inhaled. That first evening in the hotel room after visiting the dispensary, I awoke excitedly to the dismay of my wife. ‘Look at my hand,’ I told her, as my hand rested flat against my stomach. ‘It’s not all curled up as usual.’ Further experimentation relieved my leg and muscle spasms by about 90%.

   

  That experience provided the first real relief from my MS symptoms that I had felt since the initial diagnosis. And it’s the reason I am strongly supporting the passage of House File 950, which will add ‘vaporizable dried raw cannabis’ to the list of products available to Iowa’s medical cannabis cardholders. This measure addresses a critical gap in access that affects many patients, which is the need for lower-cost medicine that can provide rapid onset relief.

   

  The products currently available to medical marijuana cardholders provide relief for patients in a variety of ways. Cannabis tablets provide long-lasting relief but can take up to an hour or longer to take effect. Tinctures can provide similar long-lasting relief and are somewhat faster acting. But inhaled, vaporized medicine can provide the quickest, most effective relief for many patients when symptoms hit. However, currently available vaporized options are often too expensive for many patients to afford. Dried cannabis that can be vaporized would be approximately 50% less costly, enabling these patients to obtain the near-immediate relief they need.

   

  My personal experience is a great example of how medicinal cannabis can improve the quality of lives. I am blessed that I do not have to worry about being able to afford the medicine I need, but many Iowans are not as fortunate. We should not allow them to suffer any longer.

   

  I can think of no reason why Iowa legislators should continue to deny access to this life-changing, lower-cost option. Medicinal cannabis has so many benefits for folks with incurable, debilitating illnesses. Not only does medicinal cannabis relieve pain, it gives back parts of our lives that are robbed from people with incurable diseases. Providing affordable, instant pain relief is a huge game changer in the daily lives of so many.

   

  There is a solution! We should no longer allow people to suffer. It is time! Legislators can end immeasurable suffering by voting yes on House File 950. I urge them to do so.” ~Dave Reynolds., Ellston

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