In 2006, when the case of Gonzales v. Oregon, 546 U.S. 243 (2006), was decided, it became clear to me that states are still the decision makers on accepted medical use of controlled substances. We have 50 states with 50 drug laws, which would be totally unnecessary if federal drug law overruled them all. So, medical use of controlled substances is still a local, state decision. Because our state drug law here in Iowa uses federal language for scheduling, I decided to test this out on the Iowa Board of Pharmacy in 2008 and ask them to find that marijuana has accepted medical use in treatment in the United States based on 12 state laws that accepted the medical use of marijuana in treatment at that time. The board refused to answer that question and insisted that it must look at the science instead. I appealed from their ruling, and while my appeal was pending, the board decided to take an independent look at the science. When the board ruled unanimously in 2010 that marijuana is medicine based on science, the court dismissed my appeal as moot. This is because it does not matter whether the board finds that marijuana is misclassified as a matter of law or as a matter of science. The fact the board ruled that marijuana should be reclassified relieved them of having to answer the legal question. So, I got what I wanted even though I did not get what I wanted for the reason I gave, state laws in 12 other states accepting the medical use of marijuana in treatment in the United States.
I did not tell the board what to do with marijuana after it is removed from schedule I, because I would be perfectly happy if marijuana is removed from schedule I without any further action by the state, which would leave it legally equivalent to dandelions. The board recommended placing marijuana in schedule II and enacting a medical marijuana program like New Mexico. Just last week, Senator Joe Bolkcom from Iowa City, Iowa, actually filed two bills, SF 2214 and SF 2215, which fairly accurately reflect the recommendations of the board in 2010. My position is that because legislators are not medical experts, and because we have the advise of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy which represents the Iowa Department of Public Health, that the legislators should enact these two bills. But, now I have to qualify that by saying the board was very specific about SF 2214, but not very specific about SF 2215. The board recommended that we enact a medical marijuana program “like” New Mexico, but did not say “indentical.” So, there is some room to negotiate here on SF 2215.
Because SF 2214 and SF 2215 were introduced on the last day they could have been approved by the Senate Committee on Human Resources, they are both dead for this year and will have to be refiled again next year. Here’s where I think we should go with these two bills next year. I think these two bills should be combined into one bill, and here’s why.
FIRST:
Reclassifying marijuana as medicine doesn’t make much sense without creating a means of access. So, these two bills really should be one bill, not two. The reason they ended up as two bills is a long story. Senator Bolkcom just ignored the board in 2011 and 2012 and didn’t file anything the board recommended. In 2013, Senator Bolkcom attached the language in SF 2214 to his bill from 2011 and 2012, which is SF 79, and which is also not what the board recommended. So, now, Senator Bolkcom has finally introduced bills the board recommended, but now they are two separate bills instead of one. Senator Bolkcom really should get this right in 2015 and file everything the board recommended in just one bill. It’s just so much cleaner that way.
SECOND:
New Mexico’s legislation specified an initial list of conditions, and then gave the New Mexico Department of Health the authority to add additional conditions. This is a bad idea for Iowa. Legislators should not be deciding which conditions marijuana should be used in treating, nor should legislators be deciding the best forms of delivery for those conditions. Medical decisions should be made by medical professionals, not legislators practicing medicine without a license.
CONCLUSION:
So, I see how we could follow the spirit of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy’s recommendations and do it better than New Mexico by making our state law the first state law to reclassify marijuana as medicine and to leave the medical decisions to the Iowa Department of Public Health. I’m not saying this will happen. After all, no other state has gotten this right yet. But, Iowa could be the first state to get it right.
And, remember, by removing marijuana from schedule I, we’ve basically said it does not belong in federal schedule I, so we’ve made the critical argument that needs to be made to address federal scheduling (which has not yet been resolved).
You must be logged in to post a comment.