A committee in the Iowa House has voted to legalize the limited growth of marijuana in Iowa for distribution as medicine to treat three conditions: epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and end-stage cancer. It’s a scaled back version of legislation that was considered in the Iowa Senate last year. Republican Representative Zach Nunn of Bondurant urged his colleagues to “keep an open mind” about the changes….
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The bill passed by a wide, bipartisan margin on the House Commerce Committee. The vote was 17 in favor and six opposed and it’s now eligible for debate in the 100-member House, although the speaker of the House has indicated the state should let federal officials decide the issue first.
Representative John Forbes, a Democrat from Urbandale who is a pharmacist, says a study published in a medical journal last June shows medical marijuana “is NOT a gateway to more illegal use.”…
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Last year a bill introduced in the Iowa Senate would have allowed marijuana to be grown, processed and sold in Iowa as treatment for a wide range of medical conditions that cause severe pain, nausea and seizures.