Audio from March 14, 2015
Ankeny Chamber Legislative Forum – March 14, 2015
MODERATOR: Yes, sir.
LAURA JUMPER’S DAD: Forgive me if I don’t phrase this question right, but it has to do with the impasse on cannabis oil. You know I’m new to this and I’ve got a daughter who’s very sick and we think this could help her. And I know there’s been, I think there’s another bill that was proposed, and you can own it in the state of Iowa, you just can’t… I don’t know if you can own it, if you can’t transport it, and you can’t get it into the state. So it seems just kind of like a bottle neck of, you know that last bill’s kind of ineffective.
MODERATOR: So, the question is what’s the status of cannabis oil. What is the impasse, and where do you see it going? Sound reasonable?
LAURA JUMPER’S DAD: Yeah.
SENATOR JACK WHITVER: Yeah, so last year we did pass a bill that legalized some of the cannabis oil for a very limited number of people. That bill, frankly, I have one of our biggest advocates from the area Carl Olsen’s back here that has been big on this issue. I don’t know if he would agree, but I would say that I don’t think that bill was thought out as well as it should have been. And it doesn’t do what it was intended to do. We passed it at 3 in the morning the last day of the session. I believe that, and I’ve been open minded but cautious on this issue. But I believe that before we expand it, which is what the bill in the Senate that was proposed I think last week, expands it greatly, I believe we need to fix what we have and make sure that it’s workable. This is an issue that you really need the federal government and the state government working together. Because what we told parents like yourself last year is, sure you can own it in Iowa, but you have to go to Colorado or California to buy it and then you can bring it back, but once you bring it back you cross federal, or state lines, which is a federal crime. And so what we passed I don’t believe can help anyone. And we need to find a solution with that and I think, frankly, it probably starts with the federal government and what they’re doing. Personally, I want to see more research before we blow that chapter wide open with a lot more.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LANDEN: It’s my opinion that you need to be able to go to a pharmacy and get a prescription filled.
MODERATOR: Kevin?
REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN KOESTER: I voted for that at 3 in the morning on May 1, 2014. The access, for government to restrict what could be legal in a way that would help a child is a really tough issue. The slippery slope is where it goes from there, in terms of, “Should we serve it in school lunch?” Alright, I’m getting a little radical with it, but I’ve been out of state in every direction you can go with my daughter that I reference, having a dilemma, because of her birth defect, because you’ve got to listen to the best sources you can to figure out which surgery to do and what to do. And government better not get in my way. What am I going to do for my daughter? And at the same time, the bill we passed satisfied some very important enthusiasts for this thing last year because we misunderstood how it would work. So, I agree with the comment that it did nothing helpful to advance its purpose. It needs to be looked at, but in this very building is the Ankeny Substance Abuse Project which looks really hard at avoiding people getting into addiction around irresponsible behavior when we coddle human nature to serve cannabis in school lunch and I’m going to do what I can to keep that from happening.
MODERATOR: So, just to confirm, the question about school lunches was rhetorical and not a statement of support, then?
REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN KOESTER: Oh, I forgot that we were recording. That’s new. These recordings are new. I’m not used to this.
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