The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Transportation, has established a process to approve and generate cannabidiol registration cards for patients and their primary caregivers. Cannabidiol registration cards provide documentation that patients and primary caregivers have met the requirements of the Medical Cannabidiol Act and are authorized to legally possess medically-necessary cannabidiol.
If the application, which includes a written recommendation from a neurologist is approved, the patient (if age 18 or older), and primary caregiver(s), will receive information with the mailed approval notification on how to obtain the card through the Iowa DOT’s Driver’s License Issuance Sites.
Last year, the Iowa Legislature established Iowa Code chapter 124D, the Medical Cannabidiol Act, allowing for use of cannabidiol to treat intractable epilepsy. Cannabidiol is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in the marijuana plant (Cannabis sativa L. or Cannabis indica). The law allows patients to possess and use (but not to manufacture or sell) cannabidiol.