Medical marijuana bill allowing more leeway sent to Iowa Senate floor

A panel of state experts would be authorized to determine the potency of a marijuana extract used to treat medical patients and which types of patients should be provided the drug, under a bill approved Tuesday by the Iowa Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senate Study Bill 3106 was sent to the Iowa Senate floor. It would grant the Medical Cannabidiol Board the authority to alter the definition of medical cannabidiol and to alter the list of debilitating medical conditions for which the use of medical cannabidiol would be medically beneficial.

Cannabidiol that is one of the main constituents of cannabis and has mild psychoactive effects.

“What we are trying to do is to empower professionals, and not state legislators, to make the decisions," said Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, a supporter of the bill.

IOWA POLL: Majority support medical marijuana

Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mount Pleasant, said he believes sick Iowans would be better served under the proposal to ensure that medical cannabidiol is being provided to the appropriate patients and at appropriate levels.

A medical marijuana law approved by the Iowa Legislature last year strictly limits what kinds of marijuana-derived products may be made and sold. The law bars products that could be smoked or eaten. It also does not allow products with more than 3 percent of THC, the chemical that makes recreational marijuana users high.

Iowa’s previous medical-marijuana law only allowed possession of a marijuana-derived oil for use by people with severe forms of epilepsy. The new law also allows possession of approved marijuana products by patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, seizures, AIDS or HIV, Crohn's disease, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, as well as most terminal illnesses that involve untreatable pain and a life expectancy of less than one year.

Medical-marijuana advocates have urged lawmakers to add more ailments to the list for which Iowans could use marijuana derivatives. They also want the state to increase the limit on THC, which they say can ease a range of symptoms.