[420 Girl]

Iowa - In reporting bills that did not survive the funnel date of February 12 at the Iowa Legislature, Jennifer Jacobs reported in yesterday’s Des Moines Register, February 12, 2010, regarding SF 293 and HF 2179, “Among the dead are marijuana for medical purposes”. Nothing could be further from the truth. As Mark Twain wrote back in 1897, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

For the past 31 years, the Iowa Legislature has given the Iowa Board of Pharmacy the authority to make medical marijuana available by administrative rule. The Pharmacy Board has been hesitant to use its authority because of federal regulations prohibiting the medical use of marijuana. On October 19, 2009, the Obama Administration announced the federal government would no longer interfere with states implementing medical marijuana laws.

Iowans for Medical Marijuana filed a petition with the Pharmacy Board in 2008, notifying the Pharmacy Board that marijuana is misclassified in Iowa as having no accepted medical use in the United States because at that time 12 states had accepted it. A total of 14 states now accept the medical use of marijuana. Michigan became the 13th state in November 2008, and New Jersey recently became the 14th state in 2010. Iowans for Medical Marijuana is currently appealing the Pharmacy Board’s decision rejecting its petition in the Iowa Supreme Court.

Iowa is set to become the 15th state on February 17th when the Pharmacy Board announces the results of the four public hearings held across the state in the fall of 2009. It is no surprise that the announcement was scheduled for February 17th, 5 days after the Iowa Legislature’s funnel date, and it is no surprise that state legislators, as well as the Iowa Supreme Court, are waiting to see what the Pharmacy Board has to say before taking further action.

Iowans for Medical Marijuana, P.O. Box 4091, Des Moines, IA 50333 Iowans for Medical Marijuana


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