‘Charlotte’s Web’ hemp oil being shipped to Iowans

A Colorado company that has gained national attention for developing “Charlotte’s Web” hemp oil for epilepsy patients has started mailing it to customers in Iowa.

Federal officials consider the extract a version of medical marijuana, and they say it’s illegal to ship the oil across state lines. But they have taken no action to block the shipments.

One of the Colorado company’s first Iowa customers is Sally Gaer of West Des Moines, who helped lead the successful lobbying effort for a state law allowing possession of such oil for treatment of severe epilepsy. She and other activists applauded passage of the 2014 law as a good start. But they have since complained that it is practically useless, because it makes no provision for distribution of the medication.

MORE: Despite law, Iowans lack legal way to obtain medical marijuana

Gaer is no longer willing to wait for Iowa authorities to expand the state’s limited medical marijuana program to help people such as her daughter, Margaret. Gaer recently began purchasing Charlotte’s Web oil from Colorado through the mail.

She believes the practice is legal. “But you know what? I don’t care anymore,” she said.

Margaret Gaer, 25, is one of just 29 Iowa epilepsy patients who have obtained state cards allowing them to possess cannabis oil. But the Colorado oil-producing company, CW Botanicals, didn’t ask to see her card. In fact, it will ship the oil to anyone in Iowa or most other states who wants to use it for any purpose.

The company contends that Charlotte’s Web is not technically a marijuana product, because it has only a tiny amount of THC, the chemical that makes recreational pot users high. That opinion was enough for Gaer, and her husband Steve, who is a lawyer. “Once they said they would ship it, I’m like, ‘OK, let’s rock and roll and give this thing a try,” Sally Gaer said. “… It’s not like we’re shipping heroin.”

The company says the oil is extracted from a special strain of cannabis plant. The strain is bred to produce little THC but lots of another chemical, cannabidiol, known as CBD.

Marijuana is now legal for medical and recreational uses in Colorado. CW Botanicals has gained national attention for its Charlotte’s Web oil, which many families say can dramatically reduce seizures in people with severe epilepsy.

Some medical experts have urged caution. They say the oil has not been thoroughly tested and they advise families to wait for federal authorities to approve a pharmaceutical version. But other doctors, including some in Iowa, have backed families’ decisions to try the oil now, because it has fewer potential side effects than many other anti-seizure medications.

Joel Stanley, chief executive officer of CW Botanicals, said leaders of his family-owned company thought long and hard about whether to ship the oil out of Colorado. “There was a lot of debate. It took a lot of time and a lot of attorneys,” he said in a phone interview.

The company’s attorneys decided that under a 2014 federal agriculture law, the product qualified as legal hemp oil. The lawyers’ opinion was important, Stanley said, but “there’s a moral reason, and ultimately that’s what pushed us over.”

RELATED: Hemp-oil sales begin, despite medical-marijuana ban

The company considers the product a dietary supplement, and it makes no specific health claims about it, Stanley said. About 4,000 customers inside and outside Colorado are buying it. About half of them apparently are using it for epilepsy, but others reportedly are using it for such conditions as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and autoimmune disorders, he said. Some people take it just because they believe it’s healthful, he added. He noted that a federal expert testified recently before Congress that CBD oil is not addictive and can’t make people high.

A much smaller West Des Moines company has been selling similar hemp oil imported from eastern Europe. But the shipments of Charlotte’s Web into Iowa raise the profile of such efforts, because CW Botanicals has been the national face of the industry.

Rusty Payne, a spokesman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, said his agency sees CBD oil as a marijuana product. He said it is a Schedule I drug, in the same classification as heroin or cocaine. He said his agency supports scientific research into CBD oil, but not unregulated sales of it.

Payne acknowledged that his agency has not arrested people for distributing CBD oil for health purposes. “It’s not legal under federal law, but we have to prioritize who we go after,” he said. In general, he said, the agency’s priorities include stopping violent drug-trafficking gangs.

Geoff Greenwood, a spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, declined to say whether his office believes mail-order deliveries of CBD oil are legal under Iowa’s year-old law. Greenwood said it would be up to county attorneys to decide whether to prosecute anyone for such sales or purchases. The attorney general’s office would be willing to consult with county attorneys on the subject, but the office isn’t offering a public opinion, Greenwood said.

Gaer and her husband, West Des Moines Mayor Steve Gaer, have been giving their daughter the oil twice a day in capsules that Sally fills with a syringe. They’re paying $250 for a bottle that should last almost a month.

They don’t expect the oil to be a magical cure, especially since Margaret’s epilepsy has probably caused irreversible brain damage over her 25 years. But they said she seems to be walking and speaking a bit better in the weeks since they’ve added the cannabis oil to her many other, stronger medications. She’s definitely sleeping better, they added.

Sally Gaer emphasized that she waited to try giving her daughter the oil until many other people had used it without evidence of harm. “I don’t try every potion out there that’s purported to be a miracle,” she said.

Despite their newfound ability to obtain cannabis oil via the mail, the Gaers will continue to lobby Congress and state legislators to expand medical marijuana laws to allow distribution and possession of other types and for other conditions. “I hope the Legislature doesn’t use this as an excuse to say, ‘We don’t need to do anything else,’ ” Steve Gaer said.

Grassley pushes for research

The CBD oil controversy had caught the attention of U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who plays a key role in drug regulation.

The Iowa Republican, who is chairman of a Senate committee overseeing drug-control policy, has pushed federal administrators to remove barriers to research into the medication. But he also has expressed discomfort with unregulated sales of the product.

RELATED: Grassley opposed medical marijuana rescheduling

“Parents who buy the products online and through the mail often don’t know exactly what they’re getting or have a doctor’s guidance. This isn’t the way medicine should work,” Grassley said this week in a statement released by his staff. “That’s why we need to encourage research to help determine whether the product is effective, for what kind of patients, and how it should be given. That’s how all pharmaceuticals are developed. The process works pretty well, and it was good news recently that key federal agencies agreed to remove some of the red tape that had hindered research on cannabidiol after I wrote them about it. ... I understand the desperation of parents trying to help their children. They need real answers based on scientific evidence.”

Grassley led a hearing last month on the subject. Witnesses included Joseph Rannazzisi, a top administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration, who said his agency still considers CBD to be a Schedule I drug, which is the most closely regulated classification.

“We are fully committed to supporting the lawful research involving marijuana and CBD, while also ensuring compliance with the Controlled Substances Act,” he said.