With the Vermont governor's signing of a bill this month to legalize medical marijuana, eight states have now approved the sale and use of marijuana for medical purposes. But today in Iowa, a person who is found to possess even small amounts of marijuana that they might use for bona fide medical problems is subject to arrest and time in jail -- not to mention the costly legal expense to hire an attorney, take time off from work and possible jeopardy to a career. With the Vermont governor's signing of a bill this month to legalize medical marijuana, eight states have now approved the sale and use of marijuana for medical purposes. But today in Iowa, a person who is found to possess even small amounts of marijuana that they might use for bona fide medical problems is subject to arrest and time in jail -- not to mention the costly legal expense to hire an attorney, take time off from work and possible jeopardy to a career.

In February of this year, our Board of Pharmacy in Iowa voted unanimously to officially recognize the medical value of marijuana and further recommended that the Legislature re-categorize it to Schedule II, giving physicians the right to prescribe it. And while the members of the Board of Pharmacy could have made the change in schedule themselves, they chose to delegate the controversial matter to our Legislature.

With medical marijuana we can tax the industry and control the quality and purity of the product -- making it safer and more predictable for those whose doctors have chosen to prescribe it for them.

The time has come for the Iowa Legislature to approve the use of marijuana for legal medical purposes. Debate continues about how effective marijuana is for certain disease states. Regardless of your view on marijuana for so-called "recreational" purposes, people with medical problems that respond to marijuana should not be kept waiting. Those who now use it to treat real medical problems should not have to fear facing arrest.