Jason Noble

jnoble2@dmreg.com

Legal marijuana oil for Iowans with intractable epilepsy took an incremental step forward on Tuesday, albeit one that ensures further negotiation between the Iowa House and Senate.

The House Public Safety Committee approved legislation decriminalizing cannabidiol, a marijuana-derived oil that has been shown to reduce seizures and relieve other symptoms for people with severe epilepsy. The bipartisan 13-5 vote moves the bill to the House floor for debate that could happen on Wednesday.

Before approving it, however, the committee added three amendments, which guarantee that even if the bill passes the full House it must return to the Senate where it's already been approved. That will require more discussion among lawmakers when time is drawing short in the 2014 legislative session.

As in previous discussions of the bill, lawmakers on Tuesday honed in on the bill's safeguards against abuse and potential benefits for patients – including many children – with severe epilepsy.

State Rep. John Forbes, D-Urbandale and a pharmacist, described cannabidiol's potential for reducing seizures and cutting down on the prescription drugs patients must take.

"That's our main goal for these children and people, is to increase their quality of life, so they can spend quality time with their families and be able to hopefully live a more normal life," Forbes said.

The bill itself decriminalizes possession of cannabidiol for epileptic patients and their caregivers who receive a neurologist's recommendation and obtain a state-issued ID card. Production and sale of the oil is not legal, however, meaning patients or caregivers will have to obtain it elsewhere and bring it back to Iowa.

The amendments added to the bill limit possession of the marijuana oil to 32 ounces, remove language allowing Iowa to recognize out-of-state medical marijuana licenses and direct the University of Iowa to conduct a study on cannabidiol's effectiveness.

The 32-ounce limit on the oil equates to roughly a six-month supply, lawmakers said. Under the terms of the legislation, patients and caregivers will be required to obtain cannabidiol out of state.

In place of the reciprocity language allowing possession by out-of-state patients and caregivers, the bill now directs the Department of Public Health to write more stringent rules ensuring, for example, that a grandparent who lives out of state could receive permission to administer cannabdiol treatments to a grandchild while not creating a loophole for other forms of medical marijuana in the state.

The hearing underscored Republican support for the bill – several voted yes in committee and offered supportive comments during debate – but also the party's opposition. All five no votes came from the GOP, and several more in the caucus have said they won't support it on the House floor.

Attending the hearing were several parents of epileptic children, including Karen Sales, who brought her son, William, and their service dog, Maxie.

Sales, of Ankeny, said William, 11, has a chromosome abnormality that causes epilepsy and has already been told by doctors that they will recommend the use of cannabidiol if the law is passed.

"It's just something that we need greatly and others in the state do as well," Sales said. "We're very hopeful and happy."