2025 Iowa Cannabis Legislative Session Update

There were several bills filed this session that would make changes to Chapter 124E: HF 950, HF 990 / SF 399, HF 995, and one that references Chapter 124E, HF 978.

The bill that references Chapter 124E, House File 978, creates a new Chapter 124F, a medical psilocybin program.  House File 978 passed the House 84-6 and will have to pass through the Senate next year in 2026 to reach the Governor’s desk.

House File 978 creates several sections that say the new chapter requires violation of federal drug law, just like Chapter 124E does without explicitly saying so, 124F § 3, 124F § 15, 124F § 23, 124F § 24, and 124F § 32.

House File 978 also allows the same medical cannabidiol manufacturers and dispensaries licensed under Chapter 124E to facilitate psilocybin manufacture and dispensing, 124F § 5.

A pattern is developing here.  There will be a new chapter for every hallucinogen in Chapter 124, Schedule I: 124G for ayahuasca, 124H for peyote, 124I for ibogaine, 124J for LSD, 124K for DMT, 124L for mescaline, and so on.

House File 990, increasing the number of dispensaries from 5 to 10, passed the House 90-2 and was attached to Senate File 399 HHS Committee Bill pending in the Senate.

House File 995, creating out of state registration for people visiting Iowa for a lengthy period, passed the House 91-1 and is pending in the Senate.

House File 950, adding flower and assigning the medical cannabidiol board with the task of creating packaging requirements, 124E § 5(f), is a Health and Human Services Committee Bill.  HF 950 was substantially amended in committee, and there is another amendment, H-1083, currently pending in the House.

Just as we have agreed upon the need for a medical cannabidiol board, there is a need for a legal task force to study these bills over the interim.  The more we dive into this “perceived” conflict with federal drug law, the more we need to take a serious look at 21 U.S.C. § 822(d) which would resolve the “perceived” conflict.  The only conflict is in the imagination of Iowa’s leadership.

To be fair, this is a national phenomenon.  Forty-eight (48) states have these programs and all of them, including the federal government, “perceive” the same imaginary federal conflict.  It’s time to take the time to look at this more carefully.

Other Stuff

House Study Bill 279, increasing the potency of consumable hemp products, is pending in the House Committee on Public Safety.

House File 609, adding psilocybin and peyote to the religious freedom restoration act, is pending in the House Committee on Judiciary.

House File 351, removing psilocybin and psilocyn from the list of controlled substances, is pending in the House Committee on Public Safety.

House File 78, lowering penalty for possessing small amounts of marijuana, is pending in the House Committee on Public Safety.

House File 72, lowering penalty for possessing small amounts of marijuana, is pending in the House Committee on Public Safety.

House File 8, authorizing school nurses to provide full spectrum consumable hemp products to students, is pending in the House Committee on Education.