Clel Baudler
A bill that could have expanded the use of cannabis oil for a variety of “debilitating medical conditions” has stalled in the Iowa House.
“At this time, if it isn’t dead, it sure as hell is shot through with holes,” says Republican Representative Clel Baudler of Greenfield, the bill’s sponsor.
Baudler had hoped the bill would clear a House committee yesterday, but Baudler says he could only muster support for the bill from three of the 11 Republicans who serve on the Public Safety Committee. Baudler says “disappointed” is the tame way to characterize his reaction after working on the details in the bill for months.
“I don’t know what happened from last year to this year,” Baudler says.
The state law that decriminalized possession of cannabis oil for the treatment of chronic epilepsy is set to expire this summer. Baudler and House leaders expect another bill will pass to simply lift the expiration date, so patients — mainly children — who’ve used cannabis oil to reduce their seizures may continue with the treatment.
Baudler’s original bill would have set up a state-monitored system to grow marijuana, manufacture cannabis oil and dispense it in Iowa. The legislature also included the liklihood Iowans who suffer from a variety of debilitating illnesses might have been able to get a prescription for cannabis oil.