Des Moines, Iowa — A bill that would let Iowa doctors prescribe marijuana as treatment for 18 “debilitating” conditions is on a fast track in the Iowa Senate.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the bill Wednesday and it is now ready for debate on the senate floor, according to Senator Randy Feenstra of Hull.
But the senator says that’s not the part of the bill that got the most attention. He says the main part of the bill is how cannabis would go from an illegal drug to a Schedule II controlled substance.
A full list of the conditions for which physicians could prescribe marijuana oil can be found below.
The bill also stipulates four growers and twelve dispensaries in the state, says Feenstra. He says they hope this would clear up the legal issues of having to go out-of-state to get marijuana oil and then transport it across state lines. He tells us the most likely places for dispensaries to be located.
Feenstra says the bill would NOT allow doctors to prescribe marijuana CIGARETTES or joints however, a stipulation that some patients and their families oppose.
Feenstra says the bill faces an uncertain future in the Iowa House of Representatives. In fact he says while he allowed the bill to pass the Senate Ways and Means Committee, of which he is the chair, he’s still very uncertain whether he will vote for the final bill or not. He says the Senate will debate it either Monday or Tuesday.
According to the bill, “Debilitating medical condition” means any of the following:
a. Cancer, if the underlying condition or treatment produces one or more of the following: Intractable pain, Nausea or severe vomiting, Cachexia or severe wasting.
b. Multiple sclerosis.
c. Epilepsy or seizure disorders.
d. AIDS or HIV as defined in section 141A.1.
e. Glaucoma.
f. Hepatitis C.
g. Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.
h. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
i. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
j. Post-traumatic stress disorder.
k. Tourette’s syndrome.
l. Any terminal illness, with a probable life expectancy of under one year, if the illness or its treatment produces one or more of the following: Intractable pain, Nauseas or severe vomiting, Cachexia or severe wasting.
m. Intractable pain.
n. Parkinson’s disease.
o. Muscular dystrophy.
p. Huntington’s disease.
q. Alzheimer’s disease.
r. Complex regional pain syndrome, type I and II.
s. Rheumatoid arthritis.
t. Any other chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its medical treatment approved by the department
