March 28, 2024

Iowa leaders have mixed stances on medical cannabis

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Several states have different types of medical cannabis programs going, and there are 23 states with either recreational and/or medical marijuana legalized.

There will be a push from the medical community to get Iowa legislators to expand the cannabis program this year.

Iowa legislators approved the Medical Cannabidiol Act in 2014, but when Gov. Terry Branstad signed the bill into law, it really only gave a limited number of epilepsy patients the right to legally posses one drug that can’t legally be produced in Iowa and many other states.

Newton native Craig Miller Jr., who works as a lab tech for Underwriters Laboratories’ Newton facility, is one of the administrators of the Facebook group called Concerned Iowans for Medical Cannabis. Sally Gaer, wife of West Des Moines mayor Steve Gaer and mother of an adult daughter who has a severe form of epliepsy, is a longtime and passionate advocate for medical cannabis.

Monday, the Iowa Pharmacy Board recommended legislators reclassify a marijuana extract that has little of the chemical THC, making it easier to use legally for treating epilepsy,

When asked by the Daily News what she’d like to see the legislature do with medical cannabis this year, Gaer had this reply:

“Steve and I would like to see medical cannabis removed from Schedule I, as per the 2010 recommendation of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy. We would also like a medical cannabis program set up in Iowa with a board made up of doctors, pharmacists, nurses, patients, law enforcement, drug enforcement, experts in growing and testing the plants. This would leave decision making up to this board and not legislators who do not have the expertise. The result would be to have the medicine grown, processed, tested, and distributed in Iowa.”

Iowa Rep. Dan Kelley (D-Newton) voted against the Medical Cannabidiol Act. Like many leaders, he is reluctant to encourage states to approve actions that might be in conflict with federal laws and regulations.

“The bill that came before the legislature last session is incredibly flawed,” Kelley said. “The bill (required) a study from the University of Iowa that would determine whether cannabis oil actually helps medically or not. That study did not happen, and it’s highly unlikely to happen, because our bill violated federal drug policy. It was the right vote, and I’m proud to have taken it.

“I believe that efforts to legalize illegal drugs are misplaced efforts. I think the state of Iowa needs to focus on sparking our economy through support for agriculture, support for renewable energy and seeking employers from the coasts and other parts of the Midwest who may want to locate their jobs here.”

Iowa Senator-elect Chaz Allen (D-Newton) said last year’s legislation was not an attempt to legalize recreational marijuana —and, most likely, any proposals this session regarding cannabis will likely be strictly for medical purposes as well.

“Just like allowing the limited use of morphine, on the battlefield as well as the emergency room, this is about what it right and what is wrong,” Allen said. “Senate File 2360 passed the legislature and was signed into law last year, and it garnered overwhelming bipartisan legislative support — as well as Gov. Branstad’s signature.”

Allen said getting medicine to patients, such as Miller Jr.’s wife or those with severe epilepsy, is a matter of simply helping citizens in need.

“It just seems like a no-brainer to me,” Allen said. “We’re not talking about choosing whether or not to be tough on crime. It is wrong to play politics with this issue to gain points in the next election cycle. I look forward to seeing the bill improved, and better access provided to this medicine so these parents are allowed to provide comfort for their children in such chronic need of our help.”

Allen said it’s important for the legislature to make more than symbolic gestures.

“I will proudly stand with these mothers, caregivers and children,” he said.