House File 978

House File 978 is on the House Ways and Means Cal­en­dar, eli­gi­ble on 4/2/2025.

This bill should be amend­ed to include our state’s fed­er­al right to enact it.  State laws autho­riz­ing the use of psy­choac­tive plants and fun­gi in sched­ule I of the con­trolled sub­stances acts are autho­rized in the fed­er­al act.  But, we must noti­fy the U.S. Depart­ment of Jus­tice that med­ical use of psilo­cy­bin is an excep­tion under 21 U.S.C. § 822(d) (con­sis­tent with “pub­lic health and safe­ty”).

Please do not require Iowans to vio­late fed­er­al drug law as a con­di­tion of med­ical treat­ment.  House File 978, §§ 4, 11, 17, 26, and 27, requires vio­la­tion of fed­er­al drug law as a con­di­tion of par­tic­i­pa­tion.

State pro­grams autho­riz­ing use of plants or fun­gi list­ed in sched­ule I of state and fed­er­al con­trolled sub­stances acts require bet­ter plan­ning and exe­cu­tion.  HF 978 autho­rizes use of psilo­cy­bin to treat PTSD.  Iowans with PTSD do not need addi­tion­al trau­ma from sign­ing an agree­ment to vio­late fed­er­al drug law as a con­di­tion of treat­ment.

Leg­is­la­tors have sworn oaths to defend the laws and Con­sti­tu­tion of the Unit­ed States.  Iowa Con­sti­tu­tion, Arti­cle III, Sec­tion 32.  Mem­bers of the mil­i­tary swear an oath to defend the laws and Con­sti­tu­tion of the Unit­ed States.

Use of sched­ule I con­trolled sub­stances is not just a med­ical issue, it is a legal one.  The med­ical cannabis board has request­ed expert legal advice, just as the med­ical side of the issue requires their expert med­ical advice.  Fed­er­al drug law pro­vides a solu­tion.  21 U.S.C. § 822(d).  We need legal experts to pre­pare the appli­ca­tion.

The state must tell the U.S. Depart­ment of Jus­tice that 21 U.S.C. § 822(d) is the solu­tion and explain why.  It was the state’s idea to cre­ate these pro­grams and the state expects fed­er­al coop­er­a­tion.  Get an acknowl­edge­ment from the U.S. Depart­ment of Jus­tice affirm­ing the state cor­rect­ly inter­prets 21 U.S.C. § 822(d) (“con­sis­tent with pub­lic health and safe­ty”).  Why would we take the posi­tion tak­en in HF 978: that we have no fed­er­al right to enact a med­ical psilo­cy­bin pro­gram and we don’t think it is in the inter­est of pub­lic health and safe­ty?

HF 978 refers to Chap­ter 124E, the med­ical cannabis pro­gram.  An amend­ment to the med­ical cannabis pro­gram in 2020, HF 2589 § 31, directs the depart­ment of health to request a fed­er­al waiv­er for the state med­ical cannabis pro­gram, Chap­ter 124E.  2020 Acts ch. 1116, § 31.  The depart­ment filed the request with the U.S. Depart­ment of Jus­tice in April 2021 and has not received a response.

• In Decem­ber 2022, the med­ical cannabis board request­ed leg­is­la­tion estab­lish­ing a legal task force in its Annu­al Report to the leg­is­la­ture for the 2023 ses­sion.
• In Decem­ber 2023, the med­ical cannabis board request­ed leg­is­la­tion estab­lish­ing a legal task force in its Annu­al Report to the leg­is­la­ture for the 2024 ses­sion.
• In Decem­ber 2024, the med­ical cannabis board request­ed leg­is­la­tion estab­lish­ing a legal task force in its Annu­al Report to the leg­is­la­ture for the 2025 ses­sion.

HF 978 § 6(6) refers to the Med­ical Cannabis Act, Chap­ter 124E:

HF 978 § 6(10) refers to the Med­ical Cannabis Act, Chap­ter 124E:

21 U.S.C. § 822(d) pro­vides fed­er­al reg­is­tra­tion which would not require Iowans to swear an oath to vio­late fed­er­al drug law to receive their med­ical treat­ment.  Please amend HF 978 to include a legal task force to eval­u­ate and pre­pare an appli­ca­tion for reg­is­tra­tion under 21 U.S.C. § 822(d).

States can enact these types of law even if it is ille­gal to par­tic­i­pate in them.  Sim­ply make the appli­ca­tion retroac­tive back to the begin­ning of the pro­gram so patients forced to sign these invalid agree­ments are for­giv­en.