Iowa

[MedicalNeed]

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, seems to be "SideStepping" the issue and leaving tough questions to a regulatory agency.


So now that the pharmacy board has voted unanimously to approve Medical Cannabis as Medicine, and the State Legislature refused to approach the issue is Cannabis now legal as Medicine in Iowa? I'd say there is a GIANT Grey area on this as of now?

What is your take on this, Contact these people and let your dissatisfaction be KNOWN!

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Medicinal marijuana issue in Iowa hits roadblock

DES MOINES, Iowa —
The future of medical marijuana in Iowa is uncertain after a legislative leader and the state's pharmacy board said it is up to the other to move forward on the issue.

The pharmacy board voted unanimously in February to recommend that marijuana be allowed in Iowa for medicinal use. In its recommendation, the board also asked the Legislature to create a study committee to look at how the use of medical marijuana could be implemented.

Now, both sides have decided they've done all they can do, leaving it up to other to take the next step.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, said that after the board's recommendation he discovered what apparently was a long-forgotten law on the Iowa books that allowed the pharmacy board to authorize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

"We were operating under the paradigm that it was against the law because of a statute," McCarthy said.

McCarthy said no study is needed and that because of the existing law the pharmacy board has the authority to treat marijuana like any other schedule II drug that requires a prescription.

"No change is needed," McCarthy said.

Lloyd Jessen, the board's executive director, disputes the idea that lawmakers don't need to act.

"They want us to do what they need to do and that's to implement a program and we don't have the authority to do that," Jessen said. "It's not a simple issue."

Jessen said the board cannot establish a distribution system for medical marijuana, create a list of medical conditions that marijuana could be prescribed for, set criminal penalties for violating the law, or put in place a quality control system without legislative action.

"The Legislature needs to understand we are limited," he said. "We are here to regulate pharmacies and pharmacists. These are all things the board can't do by making a rule for this. This requires legislation that is signed by the governor."

Jessen accused the Legislature of trying to sidestep the issue and leave tough questions to a regulatory agency.

Medical marijuana is legal in 14 states plus the District of Columbia. Nine of them legalized medical marijuana in public votes, and five others were legalized by legislative action, said Mike Meno, spokesman for the Washington D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, which works to increase public support for marijuana policy reform.

"There are 15 models around the country that show how to implement a law and they don't need to reinvent the wheel here," Meno said.

Polls have indicated support in Iowa for legalizing marijuana for medicinal use. The latest, by KCCI-TV earlier this month, showed 62 percent support for medical marijuana.

McCarthy insists the pharmacy board has the authority to implement a program.

"What they have asked us to do is already law," he said. "It should work like any other scheduled drug. We don't micromanage that -- what the distribution stream is or how doctors prescribe it."

Jessen disagreed and said a lot has changed since the law was passed in the mid-1970s.

"This is a broad society issue that needs input from everybody involved, including law enforcement and the medical community," he said.

Jessen also questioned why the governor-appointed board would take action that is in opposition to what the governor supports.

"The governor's own office of drug control policy is on record opposing medicinal marijuana," he said. "Why would the board implement a policy that is in direct conflict with the governor?"

Carl Olsen, a proponent of medicinal marijuana who spearheaded the petition drive that led to the pharmacy board's recommendation to legalize medical marijuana, said people who could benefit from the drug are suffering while officials bicker.

"What we have is a law that everybody claims they don't understand," Olsen said. "Then they expect people to be arrested and go to prison for using medicine while they argue about what it means."

Source: chicagotribune.com

 

[MedicalNeed]

I urge you to contact these three and ask them their position on Medical Cannabis.

Kaufmann, R-Wilton, 79th House District

Mark Lofgren of Muscatine, a fellow Republican who's running for the seat in the 80th District currently held by Nathan Reichert, D-Muscatine

Nathan Reichert, D-Muscatine

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Local legislator lends an ear and a compassionate heart for medical marijuana



MUSCATINE, Iowa -I f Iowa supporters of medical marijuana find a sympathetic ear in the Iowa Legislature, it will be because of lawmakers like Jeff Kaufmann.

Kaufmann, R-Wilton, who represents the 79th House District, together with legislative candidate Mark Lofgren of Muscatine, a fellow Republican who's running for the seat in the 80th District currently held by Nathan Reichert, D-Muscatine, attended a Saturday afternoon screening of the documentary film, "Waiting to Inhale," at the Musser Public Library.

Lofgren took notes but offered no public comments.

The event, which attracted 11 people, was sponsored by the group Iowa Patients for Medical Marijuana, founded by Jimmy Morrison, 23, of Muscatine.

Kaufmann urged people who want the law changed, including those with fibromyalgia, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and those with Multiple Sclerosis -patients who say marijuana reduces their pain or nausea - to be careful how they lobby their legislators.

"You are asking us to go into the fray, but we can't address your issues without asking the tough questions," he said. "There is no chance for this bill (which would legalize marijuana use for medical purposes only) unless you shut the door and triple lock it" against those who would prefer that Iowa approve marijuana for recreational use, too.

"I'm the only legislator who showed up today. I'm here," he told a crowd who shared with Kaufmann both their pain and their tears, "because my mother suffered from fibromyalgia."

Lisa Jackson, 44, of Crawfordsville, also has fibromyalgia, a chronic condition with symptoms that include pain, tenderness and stiffness in the muscles and joints, and fatigue and anxiety.

She said that smoking marijuana has enabled her to "get out of bed, raise 50 chickens, mow 2 1/2 acres and keep the kids fed and dressed. To me that's a life I can be proud of."

She described a life before trying medicinal marijuana in which "my family carried on around me, but without me."

A little more than two years ago, she said she was seated on her bed holding her husband's gun, ready to take her own life. Then her husband walked into the room, and the two had a heart-to-heart talk about "how our lives had to change."

For her the most beneficial change was when she began smoking half an ounce of marijuana each week.

"My children know I smoke and why," she said, her talk interrupted a few times by tears. "In many ways they have paid a higher price than I have."

Kauf-mann said he got his first inkling of Iowans' strong support for a change in the law during what he called a "listening post" event in Clarence.

"It doesn't get much more conservative than Clarence," he said. "I threw out (the topic of) medical marijuana and at least 90 percent of them said they believed we should continue to have the discussion."

"It's an idea," he added, "that you've convinced me needs to be discussed (in the Legislature). We're still small enough (in Iowa) that people talking to (legislators) can change our minds.

"Now," he said of the proposal, "we need to make it politically viable."

After the film, Morrison talked about the prospects of following up February's vote by the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to recommend that the Legislature remove marijuana as a Schedule I drug, which by definition have no medicinal use and a high probability of addiction.

Medical marijuana proposals died during the 2010 session. Morrison said he and Jackson want to help form a study group that includes patients, scientists, law enforcement officials and drug treatment providers.

Kaufmann said he supports that idea, even if it's not appointed by the Legislature.

"We read reports from task forces all the time," he said. "Sometimes we turn them into bills."

Source: Local legislator lends an ear and a compassionate heart for medical marijuana