Letter to Medical Cannabidiol Board, February 4, 2023
I see you have legislation on the agenda for the meeting next Friday. I was hoping to see companion bills in both chambers for implementation of the board’s eight recommendations from the board’s 2022 annual report.
The only recommendation that made it into a bill is the one I’ve been working on with the board and the department for the past five years, and that one is Senate File 69. Senator Zaun filed it and he says it will become a committee bill with a different number. Senator Zaun also filed Senate Concurrent Resolution 102 for me last year (89th General Assembly, 2021-2022), and it was approved in committee but died at that point. SF 69 is obviously a much better bill than SCR 102 was.
I see Senator Zaun has also filed Senate Study Bill 1113 (SSB 1113) to add raw flower in vaporizable form and increase the number of dispensaries in Iowa to ten. At the board’s meeting in November, I heard raw flower was going to be on the agenda for next Friday’s meeting, and I see it is on the agenda. So, I’m curious to know if the board was aware that SSB 1113 was going to be introduced this legislative session. I assume that is the case. It is a study bill and the board’s opinion should obviously be a factor in what happens with it.
But, I can’t explain why all of the board’s recommendations haven’t been introduced as legislation. I did contact all 150 legislators and remind them the board made eight recommendations, as well as sending them all of the board’s recommendations over the past five years (because it shows some continuity).
The February 10 meeting sounds like it will be interesting and I’ll be there. I can’t think of anything I want to present at that meeting, but I would like everyone to keep the focus on the absolute failure of every state program to even bother seeking compliance with federal drug law by seeking an exemption under 21 U.S.C. § 822(d). That would trigger the exemption under 21 U.S.C. § 822(c)(3) for end users and resolve the federal funding issue with educational and long-term healthcare facilities, along with other problems like banking, housing and employment, and the exorbitant federal tax penalty under 26 U.S.C. § 280E that drives the cost up exponentially. Approaching this half-heartedly as it has been is a huge mistake.
Your businesses won’t say anything, because they are competing for those limited number of licenses. Your patients won’t say anything because they are fighting for their lives. I say something because I’m not compromised. I’m not a seller, distributor, or user, so I can speak the truth. I asked for the board’s support, because we share that status of being outside observers.
It’s the same for legislators. Legislators are not violating any law by throwing everyone under the bus, because they don’t participate directly in violating federal law. Legislators have a seat on that bus.
I can’t thank you enough for helping me with this. This board was the best idea the legislature has ever come up with, but I hope the legislators will pay more attention to what the board is telling them.