Advocates for medical marijuana are calling on the Iowa House to expand state law so the potency of the cannabis oil, pills and creams that’ll be sold here is increased and more patients may legally buy Iowa-made cannabis products.
“I have waited patiently for the last four years for my disease to be covered and it is still not under the list of covered conditions,” Katie Krug of Grimes, who has ulcerative colitis, said during a statehouse news conference. “The current system is broken and it needs to be fixed.”
Nearly every member of the Iowa Senate is willing to take steps to expand the law, but the top Republican in the Iowa House opposes action this year. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer has said if a medical board that begins meeting this month makes recommendations, legislators can take action in early 2019 — shortly after cannabis products go on sale in Iowa on December 1.
Tyler Rice of Cedar Falls, a former police officer who suffers from PTSD, said cannabis oil helps him — but Rice and others who suffer from PTSD won’t be able to buy Iowa-made cannabis oil because the condition isn’t covered under the current state law.
“As someone who has lived with PTSD and know what it feels like to live with that and then get the relief from medical cannabis, it’s just life saving,” he told Radio Iowa. “It’s just unbelievable.”
Lucas Nelson, an executive with the company that landed the sole state license to produce cannabis products here, hosted today’s news conference.
To deny these folks the treatment that this program was supposed to offer, it’s inhumane,” he said. “It’s unjust and it’s not showing any compassion.”
Nelson told reporters his company will comply fully with the law, but will continue to be an advocate for patients who aren’t served by the law’s restrictions.