smokepro
Subject: Effort to Legalize canabis in Iowa Suffers Setback
Posted: 21
June
2010 at 12:18

Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";}Des Moines, Iowa The future of medical marijuana in Iowa is uncertain after a legislative leader and the statespharmacy 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 beallowed in Iowa for medicinal use. In its recommendation, the board alsoasked the Legislature to create a study committee to look at how the use ofmedical marijuana could be implemented.


Now, both sides have decided theyve done all theycan do, leaving it up to other to take the next step.


House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines,said that after the boards recommendation he discovered what apparently was along-forgotten law on the Iowa books that allowed the pharmacy board to authorize the useof marijuana for medicinal purposes.


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


McCarthy said no study is needed and that because ofthe existing law the pharmacy board has the authority to treat marijuana likeany other schedule II drug that requires a prescription.
No change is needed, McCarthy said.
Lloyd Jessen, the boards executive director,disputes the idea that lawmakers dont need to act.


They want us to do what they need to do and thatsto implement a program and we dont have the authority to do that, Jessensaid. Its not a simple issue.
Jessen said the board cannot establish a distributionsystem for medical marijuana, create a list of medical conditions that marijuanacould be prescribed for, set criminal penalties for violating the law, or putin 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 allthings the board cant do by making a rule for this. This requires legislationthat is signed by the governor.
Jessen accused the Legislature of trying to sidestepthe 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, spokesmanfor the Washington D.C.-based marijuana Policy Project, which works to increasepublic support for marijuana policy reform.


There are 15 models around the country that show howto implement a law and they dont need to reinvent the wheel here, Meno said.
Polls have indicated support in Iowa for legalizing marijuana for medicinal use. The latest, byKCCI-TV earlier this month, showed 62 percent support for medical marijuana.


McCarthy insists the pharmacy board has the authorityto implement a program.
What they have asked us to do is already law, hesaid. It should work like any other scheduled drug. We dont micromanage that what the distribution stream is or how doctors prescribe it.
Jessen disagreed and said a lot has changed since thelaw was passed in the mid-1970s.


This is a broad society issue that needs input fromeverybody involved, including law enforcement and the medical community, hesaid.
Jessen also questioned why the governor-appointedboard would take action that is in opposition to what the governor supports.


The governors own office of drug control policy ison record opposing medicinal marijuana, he said. Why would the boardimplement a policy that is in direct conflict with the governor?


Carl Olsen, a proponent of medicinal marijuana whospearheaded the petition drive that led to the pharmacy boards recommendationto legalize medical marijuana, said people who could benefit from the drug aresuffering while officials bicker.
What we have is a law that everybody claims theydont understand, Olsen said. Then they expect people to be arrested and goto prison for using medicine while they argue about what it means.