Letter to Governor Reynolds

Dear Gov­er­nor Reynolds,

2014 Iowa Acts Chap­ter 1125, SF 2360, autho­rized pos­ses­sion of cannabid­i­ol prod­ucts in Iowa.^[1]  In Gov­er­nor Branstad’s trans­mit­tal let­ter of May 14, 2014, Gov­er­nor Branstad said noth­ing about autho­riz­ing vio­la­tions of fed­er­al drug law.^[2]  Cannabid­i­ol is a Sched­ule I con­trolled sub­stance under both state and fed­er­al drug law.^[3]

2017 Iowa Acts Chap­ter 162, HF 524, autho­rized pro­duc­tion and sale (as of Decem­ber 1, 2018) of cannabis prod­ucts in Iowa.^[4]  In Gov­er­nor Branstad’s trans­mit­tal let­ter of May 12, 2017, Gov­er­nor Branstad points out a num­ber of defi­cien­cies in the act, but vio­la­tion of fed­er­al drug law was not one of those defi­cien­cies.^[5]  Cannabid­i­ol is a Sched­ule I con­trolled sub­stance under both state and fed­er­al drug law.^[6]

Imme­di­ate­ly before and after the enact­ment of HF 524, then House Speak­er Lin­da Upmey­er made pub­lic state­ments say­ing that HF 524 autho­rizes vio­la­tion of fed­er­al drug law.  On Jan­u­ary 29, 2017, Speak­er Upmey­er said, “I don’t know where we’ll land.  We are break­ing fed­er­al law no mat­ter what we do.”^[7]  On March 27, Speak­er Upmey­er said, “they are already antic­i­pat­ing doing this bill with the pos­si­bil­i­ty of break­ing two fed­er­al laws.”^[8]  On Sep­tem­ber 10, Speak­er Upmey­er said, “no mat­ter what the Leg­is­la­ture had decid­ed, the state still would have been in vio­la­tion of fed­er­al law.”^[9]

So, on Feb­ru­ary 1, 2019, dur­ing the Med­ical Cannabi­ol Board meet­ing pub­lic com­ment peri­od, I asked whether HF 524 autho­rizes vio­la­tion of fed­er­al drug law.^[10]

And, on August 2, 2019, the Med­ical Cannabid­i­ol Board rec­om­mend­ed the Iowa Depart­ment of Pub­lic Health (IDPH) obtain an exemp­tion from fed­er­al drug law pur­suant to 21 C.F.R. §1307.03.^[11]

In its annu­al report on Jan­u­ary 1, 2020, the Med­ical Cannabid­i­ol Board rec­om­mend­ed the Iowa leg­is­la­ture obtain an exemp­tion from fed­er­al drug law.^[12]

The leg­is­la­ture respond­ed, and on June 29, 2020, you approved 2020 Iowa Acts Chap­ter 1116, HF 2589.^[13]  HF 2589 instructs IDPH to obtain fed­er­al fund­ing guar­an­tees for state autho­rized actions that are per­ceived to be in vio­la­tion of fed­er­al drug law.^[14]

On Sep­tem­ber 4, 2020, IDPH deter­mined that the only clear path for­ward is an exemp­tion from fed­er­al drug law pur­suant to 21 C.F.R. §1307.03.^[15]

How­ev­er, in its annu­al report on Jan­u­ary 1, 2021, the Med­ical Cannabid­i­ol Board report­ed that IDPH is still eval­u­at­ing the best way to pro­ceed.^[16]

On Jan­u­ary 8, 2021, I spoke with the depart­ment by phone and was told IDPH can’t move for­ward because the Gov­er­nor has not yet giv­en the depart­ment author­i­ty to move for­ward with 21 C.F.R. §1307.03.

Can you give me any update on when you will autho­rize the depart­ment to pro­ceed?

Thank you very much!

____________________________

Carl Olsen

carl@carl-olsen.com