Medical marijuana proposal going back to legislators

The Iowa Board of Pharmacy is punting the medical marijuana issue to state legislators.

Executive Director Lloyd Jessen said the board referred the matter to its rules committee at a meeting Tuesday, Nov. 2, in Des Moines.

The committee will draft proposed legislation, which will be reviewed and approved at a pharmacy board teleconference meeting sometime before Thanksgiving.

Jessen said the board is still recommending that marijuana be reclassified as a schedule II drug in Iowa, which would allow its use for medicinal purposes like other prescription drugs.

The proposed legislation, which is yet to be written, will also address who should write rules, he said.

State legislators have said it is doubtful that the issue would be addressed in the next session.

The pharmacy board also denied Carl Olsen's latest petition for rulemaking based on existing law.

Olsen, a medical marijuana advocate from Des Moines, petitioned the board to write rules to allow marijuana for health purposes.

The topic has been debated in the past year, with legislators saying the board has authority to write the rules. The board has maintained, however, that legislative action is needed to establish a distribution system for medical marijuana, create a list of medical conditions that marijuana could be prescribed for, set criminal penalties for violating the law and put in place a quality control system.