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Man admits he regularly sold meth to 12-15 customers in Redfield area

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A 53-year-old Iowa central man has been sentenced to 17-and-a-half years in federal prison on drug and weapons charges.

Two years ago, undercover agents went to David James Lister’s apartment in Redfield and bought meth. Authorities then got a search warrant, opened a safe in the apartment and found 1.5 pounds of meth, plus $2,000 in cash. Lister admitted the money came from drug sales. Authorities also found a cache of guns in Lister’s storage unit.

Lister told investigators he typically spent $20,000 every two weeks to buy two pounds of meth from his supplier and he’d sell it to 12 to 15 customers in the Redfield area. He said some of his customers gave him the guns as trade rather than cash for the meth.

Report concludes opioid abuse rate among insured Iowans is low

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Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield has revealed three out of every 1,000 Iowans it insures were diagnosed with an opioid-related disorder last year. According to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, its Iowa customers have the fourth-lowest rate of opioid abuse in the nation.

Wellmark’s chief pharmacy officer says while the company is encouraged by the findings in the report, opioid addiction is still an issue in Iowa, plus there’s a shortage of qualify, accredited programs for those seeking treatment for an addiction.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield has announced plans to establish a national hotline by 2020 for anyone to use to check out treatment centers.

Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield serves two million customers in Iowa and South Dakota.

Cedar Rapids mayor expects medical marijuana use to expand in Iowa

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The mayor of Cedar Rapids says his city is ready to capitalize on the state’s medical marijuana industry after the second license to manufacture medical marijuana products was awarded to a company that plans to open a facility there.

Iowa Relief LLC was awarded the second license and plans to do build a facility in southwest Cedar Rapids. Mayor Brad Hart says he expects the market for the drug to keep growing.

“I think it’s very possible that there’ll be an expansion for the use of medical marijuana in Iowa and potentially recreational use,” Hart says, “So this kind of gets us in on the ground floor.” The state issued licenses to dispense medical marijuana products in Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Windsor Heights, Waterloo and Davenport. Hart hopes Cedar Rapids will eventually also have get a dispensary in the future.

“If they increase the number of licenses for dispensaries, we would be in a good position to get one of those. And that would serve patients, that would serve people in this area,” Hart says. Iowa Relief is owned by the New York firm Acreage Holdings, and the company’s website says it has operations in 12 other states. Iowa Relief is required to have production underway by July of next year.

MedPharm Iowa was awarded the first license to manufacture medical marijuana and is building a facility in Des Moines. MedPharm is required to have products available in December.

(Thanks to Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)

New Burlington clinic offers counseling along with opioid addiction treatment

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Patients in need of addiction treatment have a new option in southeast Iowa.

A clinic opened in Burlington this week offering opioid users medication-assisted treatment, or MAT. Nicholas Foss oversees treatment services at the clinic. Paired with counseling, Foss says drugs like methadone and suboxone can treat cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

“That way that’s out of the equation for the recovery and then you can focus on the counseling a little bit better,” Foss says, “and the person can go to work and they can function and they can be a family member and be productive in society rather than constantly getting sick.” Staff members at the clinic hope to counteract the stigma opioid users face. Foss says some still see this approach as a crutch, even other recovering users.

“There is stigma around it unfortunately,” Foss says. “I think people really want to see people with addictions to suffer through it, go through withdrawal, get really sick and get clean. My question is, is that really working well right now?” A growing body of research shows MAT helps patients recover and prevents overdoses.

Foss hopes the patients who need it give it a chance. He says some Burlington-area patients have been driving two-and-a-half-hours to Des Moines daily to get MAT treatment.

(Thanks to Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)

 

Davenport man pleads guilty in heroin overdose case

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A 50-year-old Davenport man linked to an overdose death a year-and-a-half ago is pleading guilty and could be sentenced to life in prison.

Larry Lazell Bolden admits that in early 2017 he sold heroin laced with fentanyl to a person who gave the drug to someone else who overdosed and died in a Davenport hotel. Bolden also admits he distributed heroin to someone who wound up being a police informant.

Bolden’s sentencing is scheduled for late October. He faces a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life in prison, plus a maximum fine of $2 million.

 

Advocate says FDA approved cannabis oil may help those who can’t afford trip to Colorado

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Sally Gaer (file photo)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a prescription form of cannabis oil as treatment for patients with two rare forms of epilepsy.

A West Des Moines mother whose daughter has chronic epilepsy says the move means insurance may cover this new drug that’s derived from the marijuana plant, but does not contain the chemicals that cause the “high” associated with recreational marijuana use.

“I think it opens up a population that number one could not move to Colorado to try anything and number two could not afford to use hemp products in the quantity needed to be effective,” said Sally Gaer.

Gaer’s daughter Margaret has Dravet Syndrome. This is the first drug specifically identified as prescription treatment for the condition, but Gaer said it may not be the right choice for her daughter.

“We’ll have to have a discussion,” Gaer said. “We’re kind of at a place where we know where we’re at and when we change things, the unknown can be tricky.”

Gaer indicated the newly-approved, cannabis-based drug is not the same kind of “full-spectrum” medication as the cannabis oil her daughter is taking.

Gaer is among a group of parents who successfully lobbied legislators to decriminalize possession of cannabis oil as treatment for chronic epilepsy in 2014. Gaer was also among those who successfully urged lawmakers to expand the law in 2017 so cannabis oil could be produced and dispensed in Iowa, for a wider range of medical conditions. Distribution of Iowa-manufactured cannabis oil is scheduled to start in December.

Two given prison time for distributing synthetic marijuana in Pottawattamie County Jail

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Two people have been sentenced to time in federal prison for distributing drugs in the Pottawattamie County Jail.

A judge has sentenced 35-year-old Deandre Cooper to 100 months in federal prison, and 30-year-old Charles Beuterbaugh to eight months for possession of contraband by a federal prisoner.

Court information shows the two distributed the synthetic marijuana known as “K-2” while being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail in 2017. A drug dog found the synthetic marijuana hidden in another prisoner’s cell and the investigation found that Cooper and Beuterbaugh had distributed it to other inmates.

The two will serve these sentences after they serve time they already faced for other drug crimes.

 

Prison time for man who admits he shot at cars, apartments in Iowa City

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The man responsible for shooting at cars and apartments in Iowa City last summer will do time in a federal prison.

Twenty-one-year-old Alexander Alvarado pleaded guilty in February to unlawful use of a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm. He’s been sentenced to three years in prison.

Alvarado admitted to Iowa City Police that during an eight-day period last July, he shot at several vehicles and two residences from his second-story apartment. Authorities found three guns, one of which was stolen, during a search of his apartment. They also found dozens of pills, including OxyContin and Xanax, as well as 20 grams of marijuana.

Senator Grassley touts bills passed by Senate Judiciary Committee addressing the opioid crisis

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Senator Chuck Grassley. (file photo)

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the Judiciary Committee he chairs passed five bills targeting the opioid crisis late last week and five more bills on the topic are being considered in the Finance Committee.

Grassley says, “The opioid epidemic affects people from every background, rural and urban, everywhere, ruining lives and hurting families and eventually, affecting entire communities.”

State health officials say there were just over 200 opioid-related overdose deaths in Iowa last year. Grassley says those death rates are picking up dramatically in Iowa and nationwide in recent years and Congress needs to act.

“These bills are aimed at different aspects of the problem, transparency for drug companies, manufacturers and insurance companies, inpatient care services, accurate reporting systems and opioid production quotas,” he says.

A new report from the Drug Enforcement Agency predicts overdose deaths from fentanyl this year may top 70,000 nationwide, which would be a new record high. Grassley says fentanyl is prominent on his radar.

“Fentanyl would be covered by the general opioid things that are in the bills I talked about,” Grassley says. “In my sentencing reform bill, we do have massive amounts of mandatory minimum sentencing for anybody dealing with fentanyl.”

One of the bills that passed last week encourages increased participation of authorized collectors in drug take-back programs by awarding grants to states.

From California to the Carolinas to Iowa, Grassley says, “we have seen the devastating results of abusing illegal and prescription opioids, heroin or fentanyl.” Each measure, he says, will “help curb opioid abuse and its tragic consequences.”

 

Expand Iowa’s medical marijuana law, candidates say

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The Democratic candidates running for governor.

All six Democratic gubernatorial candidates support expansion of the state’s medical marijuana law.

John Norris, a long-time aide to former Governor Tom Vilsack, said Republican Governor Reynolds should respond to critics who contend cannabis products intended for medical use will be exploited as recreational drugs.

“The governor’s not leading when she needs to,” Norris said last night on IPTV. “People are suffering in this state. She’s spending all her political capital on tax cuts for millionaires. As governor, I would spend some political capital on educating Iowans about how this helps people. Let’s get over this paranoia…and get this fixed for people who need it.”

All six candidates were asked about the issue during a 90-minute “Iowa Press” forum sponsored by Iowa Public Television.

Ross Wilburn of Ames, the former mayor of Iowa City, said it’s an “over-reaction” to suggest there is a “direct line” between medical cannabis and recreational marijuana.

“There are people who are hurting now,” Wilburn said. “My mother died of cancer in 1985 when I was 20. She could have certainly benefited from medical marijuana.”

And Wilburn said his late father, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, could have used medical marijuana as pain medication in the last two weeks of his life.

Cathy Glasson, a nurse from Coralville, said medical cannabis has been very effective in treating lots of very serious ailments.

“Medical cannabis is actually used to treat opioid addition,” Glasson said. “So evidence is showing that it’s actually beneficial in keeping (prescription opioids) from being a gateway drug.”

Andy McGuire, a medical doctor, said it should be doctors, not politicians, who decide which conditions can be effectively treated with cannabis.

“Doctors, looking at scientific medical literature, ought to be making those decisions,” McGuire said. “This is the problem. You don’t want to have the legislature, you don’t want to have the governor involved in this. You want to have it done by physicians, with their patients.”

Fred Hubbell, a Des Moines businessman, supports that approach, too, and called for making changes in the law.

“If we’re really committed to quality, affordable health care for all Iowans…the science is clear that there are a lot more medical illnesses and issues that medical marijuana can be actually be very beneficial for, much broader than what we allow in our state,” Hubbell said. “Other states have gone a lot broader than we have.”

Hubbell mentioned letting cannabis oils, pills and creams with a higher concentration of the drug THC be sold in the state.

Nate Boulton, a state senator from Des Moines, said the medical marijuana law must be expanded or the businesses that just won state licenses to sell cannabis products here won’t be profitable.

“We’re not going to get more providers coming into our state to invest in a medical cannabis solution if we don’t have more accessibility,” Boulton said. “We’re not going to get people who are going to come here, only to be able to offer to a small number of Iowans.”

Current state law has set up a system for allowing cannabis products to be used as treatment for a limited number of conditions. Five Iowa dispensing sites have been chosen for Iowa-produced cannabis oils, pills and creams, starting this December.