Jason Noble

Des Moines Register

The Iowa Legislature moved Wednesday toward decriminalizing oil derived from marijuana for the treatment of severe epilepsy, with lawmakers casting on-the-record votes supporting a proposal many believed had no chance of passage this year.

After weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations and bill drafting, legislation was introduced in the Senate and advanced through a key committee on Wednesday — positioning it for floor debate as early as today.

Senate Study Bill 3222 creates a licensing system for patients with "intractable" epilepsy and their caregivers to pursue treatment with cannabidiol, an oil derived from marijuana that has been shown to reduce seizures and improve other symptoms related to the illness.

Under the bill, patients or their caregivers who receive a neurologist's recommendation for cannabidiol would be able to apply for a state-issued identification card allowing them to possess and use the oil without fear of prosecution under state marijuana laws.

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The substance is not smokeable and contains low amounts of THC, the substance that gets users high.

Many procedural steps remain before the bill becomes law, but the actions taken Wednesday signal bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, and underscore the success of months of lobbying and weeks of intensive legislative negotiation.

That lobbying effort began even before the session convened, and has been led by several mothers of children with severe epilepsy who visited the Capitol repeatedly to plead their cases with lawmakers. Bolkcom introduced a bill in February and declared it dead that same day, citing opposition from Republicans and others.

Since then, though, the lobbying effort has continued, and Bolkcom said he's worked through "a dozen" different versions of the bill trying to find something that could win wide approval. "We have opened our ears and more importantly we have opened our hearts," said Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames. "It's a great piece of legislation."

Those ongoing discussions culminated in the bill introduced Wednesday, which won votes in committee from Senate Democrats and one Republican, and would not have come forward without confidence among leaders that it can clear the Legislature and go to Gov. Terry Branstad for passage into law.

"We've been working over the last number of weeks with our colleagues on the House side in a bipartisan way … to try and make this a better bill," Bolkcom said. "Without the work that's been done in a bipartisan way, we wouldn't be here right now."

Maria La France, whose son Quincy has a severe form of epilepsy known as Dravet syndrome, spoke at the initial subcommittee hearing Wednesday and was nearly in tears after lawmakers agreed to advance the bill.

"Just to know that my legislators are working hard for me is a wonderful thing," she said in an interview. "Whether it passes or not, just to know that people up here care about the welfare of their constituents — it's democracy in action."

Others at the hearing questioned the proposal, however. Steve Lukan, the state's Director of Drug Control Policy, worried that the movement of cannabidiol into the state could be a cover for the import of other cannabis oils that are intended for elicit purposes, although his office did not formally oppose the bill.

A representative for Blank Children's Hospital, meanwhile, spoke against it, noting that cannabidiol does not have approval from the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for epilepsy.

"We just don't know if it will cause more good than harm," Chaney Yeast said. "We don't know if families use it for their children if maybe four years from now they could contract cancer or something like that."

Yeast also suggested decriminalizing a form of marijuana for medical purposes could lead children and others to believe it is safe for recreational use.

The bill does not allow for the cultivation, production or sale of the oil, meaning patients or caregivers will have to obtain it in states with less restrictive medical marijuana regimes. It contains provisions for reciprocity with other states that have programs for patients with epilepsy.

It is unclear, at this point, where exactly patients and caregivers may be able to obtain cannabidiol given the patchwork of state laws concerning medical marijuana and the availability of the highly specialized formulation of the oil.

Should the bill win approval on the Senate floor, it will go to the House for further committee discussion and floor debate.