Panel backs medical-marijuana production

Medical marijuana should be grown and distributed in Iowa, a committee of state legislators narrowly recommended Thursday.

The 10-member, bipartisan committee of senators and representatives also backed changing state law to reclassify marijuana in a way that could make it easier to obtain as a medication.

The committee was formed to examine complications in a new law that was supposed to help people with severe epilepsy obtain marijuana extract.

The Legislature voted in May to let such people possess the oil to treat seizures. The limited law provides no method for producing or distributing the oil in Iowa, but it aims to decriminalize possession of the drug for people with epilepsy.

Reports from other states have suggested many such patients gain significant relief from a special marijuana oil, which doesn't contain the chemical that makes recreational pot users high.

But the same parents who lobbied for the bill have told legislators in recent months that the law is unworkable. For one thing, several of them testified Thursday, most states with medical-marijuana programs don't allow sales to nonresidents. Also, any Iowans buying the drug would have to break federal and other states' laws in transporting it back home.

State Sen. Bill Dotzler, a Waterloo Democrat who is on the interim committee, said he cried tears of joy in May when the Legislature passed the original bill. Like others, he said, he saw the measure as a giant step forward for the families. But, he said Thursday, "it's clear to me that the giant step forward was more of a sidestep. … We clearly need to fix the legislation so it works the way we wanted it to work."

Dotzler was one of six legislators who voted Thursday for a motion to recommend allowing the closely regulated production and distribution of medical marijuana for approved patients. The motion did not specify what type of marijuana, but it did say the state should not tax the products.

Four of the committee's five Republicans voted against the motion, saying they wanted more information before recommending such a step. "I don't want to commit to a program just to commit to a program," said Sen. Charles Schneider, a West Des Moines Republican.

The tie-breaking vote came from state Rep. Clel Baudler, a Greenfield Republican and retired state trooper. Baudler is known as a law-and-order voice in the Legislature, but he voted for last spring's bill and he said Thursday that Iowa needs to find a way to help people with severe epilepsy.

But Baudler strenuously opposes expanding the law to let people possess marijuana to treat other conditions, such as cancer or Crohn's disease. The committee rejected a motion to recommend such an expansion.

However, the committee voted 9-1 to recommend that the state reschedule marijuana. The "no" vote came from Rep. Walt Rogers, a Cedar Falls Republican. State law now defines it as both a Schedule I drug, meaning its use for any reason is illegal, and as a Schedule II drug, which could be used for medical purposes. Rescheduling it to a Schedule II would not automatically make it legal for medical purposes, but it would be a step on the way.

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, an Iowa City Democrat and co-chair of the committee, noted that the recommendations would only be a step toward further legalization of marijuana. "We're not writing law here," he said. "We're just pushing this a little further upstream."

Earlier Thursday, parents and some legislators expressed frustration at how long state administrators are taking to register people for the new program and issue identification cards. Administrators originally predicted they would start issuing cards in October. On Thursday, they said it would take until at least Jan. 30.

Dotzler said state workers should be able to move more quickly. "These families are going through living hell," he told an official from the Iowa Department of Public Health. The official said administrators are moving as quickly as possible, given the restrictions in the law.

After the hearing, parents who testified said they saw the committee's action as a step in the right direction. The families have been credited with persuading hesitant lawmakers to shift their opinions on the issue.

Baudler, the Republican who provided the key vote in favor of allowing production and distribution of the drug, had expressed deep skepticism about medical marijuana before hearing the families' heart-tugging stories last spring. In a Statehouse hallway after Thursday's meeting, he spoke to Kim Novy of Altoona, whose 12-year-old twin daughters have severe epilepsy.

"You hug those little girls for me," Baudler said. Novy smiled. "I will," she said.

UI to be test site for marijuana oil

The University of Iowa soon will be a test site for a purified marijuana oil made by a British pharmaceutical company, a UI neurologist told legislators Thursday.

Dr. Charuta Joshi testified that the drug already is being used by some American children with epilepsy, but it has not been approved for broad distribution. She said the study would be a careful trial to give solid evidence of its effects on controlling seizures.

Joshi said she has concerns about other marijuana oils that some U.S. families are buying from relatively new distributors in places like Colorado. The doctor said it's hard to tell how concentrated those oils are, so it can be difficult to determine a proper dose. However, she said, it does not appear that the main chemical in the oils, known as CBD, has life-threatening side-effects. Many current epilepsy drugs do have severe side-effects, including liver damage, she said.

Joshi said she was not yet sure how many patients would be involved in the Iowa City trial. Some of them will receive the medication, and some will receive a placebo, she said.

Several parents of children with epilepsy said later Thursday that they're glad Iowa City has been chosen as a site for the study, but they are not optimistic the trial will provide medication for many Iowa patients.