Iowa Politics Today: Iowa gets F on medical marijuana access

A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Wednesday, March 10, 2017:

IOWA FAILS THE TEST:

Iowa received a failing grade in a new report gauging patient access to medical marijuana nationwide.

Iowa got a rating of F-minus in the yearly assessment issued by Americans for Safe Access, a Washington-based advocacy groups that conducted a patient-focused analysis of laws in 44 medical cannabis states.

In the report, states are assigned letter grades based on how well their medical cannabis program meets the needs of patients. Each state is graded according to a rubric of patient's rights, legal constraints, and overall accessibility to medical cannabis.

Iowa's 2014 law – which is set to expire in July -- allows licensed neurologists to certify patients with intractable epilepsy to use cannabidiol products with 3 percent or less THC content. The law does not allow other physicians to write qualifying recommendations, nor does it allow for patients with any other conditions to obtain legal protections.

Qualifying patients must obtain a state registry ID card – which became available in 2015 -- in order to receive legal protection; qualifying patients may designate a caregiver to assist them.

According to the report, Iowa's decision to create legal protections for patients with seizure disorders was a positive first step for Iowa, but the group says the Legislature 'needs to pass comprehensive medical cannabis legislation in order to best serve the state's patient population.'

According to the report, 'states such as Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are among the lowest ranking, while Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have shown the greatest improvement over 2015 laws.

Despite the positive trend, no state falls within the 'A' range.' The report is available at the web address http://american-safe-access.s3.amazonaws.com/sos2017/ASA_state_of_state_report_2017_14_online.pdf.

MORE EMERALD ASH BORER:

State officials reported Friday that Greene and Wayne counties have been added to the locations in Iowa with confirmed presence of the emerald ash borer -- an exotic species of beetle that attacks and decimates ash trees.

That brings to 43 the number of infested counties in Iowa.

According to officials in the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, both recent detections were in rural areas.

In Greene County, the insect was discovered east of Grand Junction. In Wayne County, it was found north of Corydon. Specimens from these sites were confirmed by a federal identifier.

The adult beetle is metallic green, measures about a half-inch long and can be noticed during the summer.

Additional information, maps, and photos of emerald ash borers are available at www.IowaTreePests.com.

BIRD FLU PRECAUTIONS:

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey on Friday issued a statement highlighting Iowa's preparations for avian influenza following the confirmation of the disease in United States this year.

Northey said continued biosecurity measures are being followed by Iowa turkey, egg and broiler farmers after officials confirmed the highly pathogenic avian influenza in Tennessee and low pathogenicity avian influenza in Tennessee and Wisconsin in the past week.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus strains are extremely infectious, often fatal to domestic poultry and can spread rapidly from flock to flock, he said. Low pathogenicity avian influenza virus strains occur naturally in wild migratory waterfowl and shorebirds without causing illness, he said.

'Iowa saw firsthand the devastating impact of avian influenza in 2015, and in response our poultry farmers have made significant investments and an ongoing commitment to increase biosecurity efforts to keep their birds healthy,' Northey said.

In addition to the work by poultry farmers, state and federal partners have taken numerous steps to learn from the 2015 outbreak and prepare for any future outbreaks, he said.

Gazette Des Moines Bureau