The top Republican in the Iowa legislature is making it clear she will oppose any attempt to legalize medical marijuana in Iowa this year. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, of Clear Lake, is a nurse practitioner and she says it “makes sense” to have the federal Food and Drug Administration make that decision.
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Upmeyer says Iowa doctors worry they’ll lose their licenses write prescriptions if they advise patients to use marijuana as treatment for a medical condition.
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One of Upmeyer’s fellow Republicans in the House has introduced legislation that would allow the cultivation of marijuana in Iowa — for producing cannabis oil to treat chronic epilepsy. That bill faces a February 19th deadline to win approval in a House committee to remain eligible for legislators to consider in 2016.