[420 Girl]

Larry Quigley said he has tried all manner of treatment since suffering a spinal cord injury 28 years ago without success, which has meant a life in a wheelchair.

It wasn't until his birthday this past April, however, that he smoked marijuana and first discovered its medicinal effects. While other prescribed drugs had clouded his mind, he said, marijuana quelled the pain and spasms without the side effects.

Quigley called on officials from the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to take steps toward the legalization of medical marijuana Wednesday at a public hearing at the University of Iowa's Bowen Science Building.

"It's time that Iowa really looked at this seriously," Quigley said. "I've thought about going to other states. I would have to leave my 11-year-old here, and I'm not willing to do that."

The hearing was the third of four public forums around the state hosted by the Iowa Board of Pharmacy, which is collecting evidence and testimony from doctors, scientists and the general public before it makes a recommendation regarding medical marijuana to the Legislature.

Quigley was one of several people suffering from medical conditions who implored the board to allow Iowa to join 13 other states in legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.

Board of Pharmacy Director Lloyd Jessen and board member Peggy Whitworth were among the officials on hand collecting testimonies and information.

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, introduced a bill earlier this year to allow a person with a debilitating condition and a physician's prescription to legally obtain marijuana for medicinal use. Although the bill did not make it out of subcommittee, Bolkcom said Wednesday that he has since received dozens of e-mails, the vast majority of which are in favor of his efforts.

"I've heard from chronically ill people who have been prescribed all of the most powerful narcotics available at any pharmacy with little positive effect," Bolkcom said. "Drugs like morphine, Oxycontin, Percocet, codeine -- drugs by the way, that have powerful side effects."

Local ophthalmologist John Stamler touted the benefits of marijuana in treating glaucoma, which he said is the leading cause of blindness in the U.S.

Stamler said marijuana has great potential to help glaucoma patients, but because the drug is illegal, scientists are doing little research on its effects.

"So without being licensable for use with patients, these potentially very useful drugs will never be investigated and never be studied," Stamler said.

However, Ron Herman, the director of Iowa Drug Information Network at UI's College of Pharmacy, cautioned that the adverse effects of smoking marijuana cannot be overlooked. With glaucoma patients, for instance, marijuana might reduce the pressure on the eye, but at the same time potentially raise blood pressure.

Herman presented the board with a summarized collection of 91 studies involving medical marijuana that he and his students prepared. Herman said the studies show a benefit from marijuana in many uses, and it fared better than a placebo in the preponderance of cases.

"You can't say, yes, it works," Herman said. "You have to look at it in the context in which it's working and the potential consequences and adverse effects that are associated with it."

Lisa Jackson of Crawfordsville said she has lived with fibromyalgia, a neurological disorder, for seven years and was bed-ridden and considering suicide before beginning to use marijuana two years ago. Although she has to purchase the drug illegally, she says it is the only drug that has allowed her to function.

"Is it worth going to jail? For me, it is," she said. "I can either go back to bed, or I can smoke marijuana. And I'm not going back to bed. I don't have any other options."

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