DES MOINES — Iowans suffering from chronic illnesses made another pitch for legislative relief Tuesday, calling on lawmakers to expand the medical conditions covered by the state’s cannabis law and seeking to lift the potency cap to be able to receive effective doses of legal marijuana-derived cannabidiol.
Patients, parents, a MedPharm Iowa official and other advocates for medical marijuana made a direct appeal at the Statehouse for members of the GOP-led Iowa House to expand state law so they have more access to affordable cannabis products with the potency they need for an effective treatment.
“This program does not provide the treatment that it was promised,” said Lucas Nelson, general manager of outsourcing services for Kemin Industries, parent company of MedPharm Iowa, the business with the only state license to manufacture marijuana for medical use. “It’s inhumane. It’s unjust. It’s not showing any compassion.”
Nelson and other advocates at a Statehouse news conference supported provisions of Senate File 2405 that would lift a controversial 3 percent cap on THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, give doctors more discretion to authorize the use of marijuana products to treat pain, and expand the eligible conditions beyond the nine currently covered by Iowa’s limited medical cannabis law.
