DES MOINES – Today, Gov. Reynolds vetoed House File 732, an act relating to Iowa’s existing medical cannabidiol program.
Governor Reynolds said the following in HF 732’s transmittal letter:
“House File 732 would make a number of changes to expand Iowa’s medical cannabidiol (“CBD”) program. Our program was originally established to provide CBD as a treatment option for Iowans suffering from specific medical conditions. Since our program began, I have heard countless stories of the relief and remarkable improvements that CBD has offered Iowans. And I support our program and efforts to strengthen and improve the program, so that it continues to be a safe, rational, and compassionate medical CBD program.
“Unlike some states, Iowa’s medical CBD program is not a medical marijuana program. To this end, current Iowa law limits the level of tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”)—the psychoactive chemical in the cannabis plant—in medical CBD products to three percent. But recognizing the limited experience with medical CBD and potential questions surrounding the three percent limit, the Legislature had the foresight to establish a Medical Cannabidiol Board, primarily made up of medical experts. The Board is tasked with governing our program and advising the Legislature on potential statutory changes to the definition of medical CBD, including the THC limit. The Legislature was wise to understand that we were entering uncharted territory and could benefit from the Board’s expertise in navigating any potential expansion of the program.
“Most of the changes included in House File 732 were the result of the Legislature and the Medical Cannabidiol Board coming together to reach agreement on appropriate and positive improvements to our medical CBD program. I fully support these changes. But unfortunately, the bill would also remove the three percent limit on THC in medical CBD products and replace it with a limit of 25 grams of THC per 90-day period. This change was not recommended by the Board. And if approved, it would drastically expand Iowa’s medical CBD program far beyond its original scope of CBD-based treatments and could open the door to significant unintended consequences to the health and safety of Iowans.
“I agree that there should be some change to the three percent THC limit. There appears to be consensus, including from the Board, that a gram-based limit would be more appropriate than a percentage-based limit. But I have not been unable to discern any evidence-based justification for the specific 25-gram limit proposed in this bill. And after its review of the available evidence, the Board recommended a limit of only 4.5 grams per 90-day period.
“It may be that a THC limit higher than 4.5 grams is appropriate. But the 25-gram limit in this bill would allow a person to consume more than 277 milligrams of THC per day—an amount higher than one would typically consume even with aggressive recreational marijuana use. This is all the more concerning because a participant in the program is not prescribed a particular dosage by a medical practitioner or monitored on an ongoing basis for any adverse health consequences. Iowa’s program only requires a practitioner to certify that the participant suffers from a qualifying condition on an annual basis.
“Ultimately, I believe Iowa must proceed cautiously to ensure that any expansion of our medical CBD program is thoughtful and deliberate—particularly because Iowa’s program is in its infancy and the body of research that analyzes the efficacy of medical CBD is limited. So I look forward to working with the Legislature and the Medical Cannabidiol Board to find an evidence-based THC limit that we can work to enact along with the rest of the provisions in House File 732 that I support. The health and safety of Iowans is too important for us not to get this right.
“For these reasons, I respectfully disapprove of House File 732 in its entirety.”
The full letter can be found here.
HF 732: an act relating to the medical cannabidiol act.
Anonymous,
Sounds like the issue was about the amt of THC allowed in 732. Your bullying and name-calling water down any merit to your argument. If you want recreational MJ for cancer and terminal patients, most of those folks probably are not driving or working if you are describing the most-ill. What about the others driving vehicles, airline pilots, teachers, surgeons, and parents of young or dependent children? You really want these people and professions to be able to use higher amounts of THC? THC stays in body for days, not hours, like alcohol.
With the opioid argument, you’re basically recommending trading 1 addiction for another. How is that positive?
you have no clue what you are talking about, just because thc stays in your system (for thirty days know it all) doesn’t mean its causing any type of psychoactive effect. it lasts for a few hrs. you realize stoned people are all over the place driving in half this country and they aren’t causing accidents? you know the terminally ill have family and friends that can drive for them? why is it that all those proffesions you mentioned can hammer down a bottle of whiskey and still drive or parent? hows that more acceptable? you don’t seem to know anything about pot or its effects, you seem to have a lot of assumptions but youre wrong on every count. whats wrong with you? seriously! you have this reefer madness ignorant vibe. its marijuana, not heroin you stupid ass. there is tons of research supporting the fact that marijuana is non addictive it does not create a mental or physical dependence! you really are not a smart person are you? you realize people have access to and use marijuana everyday in iowa, right? I want to continue to list reasons whyyou are wrong and attempt to help you learn but youre saying things that are just so diseducated and stupid that it makes me wish I could punch you in the face. you probably feel really confident ineverything you said here, itd outstanding how wrong and stupid your statements are. booze is way more addictive and destructive than marijuana its nothing like heroin. you really really need to do some reading and open your mind. youu are operating on some 1950’s style retardation and propaganda. one addiction for another, you have to be trolling me. if not you need to drink bleach, idiot.
Not sure you understand that marijuana is not addictive like opioids are. There may be a psychological addiction but not physical.
You can count on one hand the number of deaths due to marijuana addiction. Opioids caused a little more than 5 deaths per day in the United States in 2017. The number is rising.
Expanded medical marijuana use would cut into pharmaceutical profits, which would conversely cut into the pharmaceutical labor contributions for Iowa politicians. Therefore it is much more financial lucrative for the Governor to keep its use out of the state. It kind of makes one wonder which is greater, corporate greed or political greed?
what a horrible person our governor is. she doesn’t care about people suffering intractable pain or the terminally ill. really compassionate. having watched someone suffer with cancer til their death its kind of insulting and it shows a total lack of respect or caring for the citizens of iowa. this bill had support on both sides of the isle. seems like ms Reynolds doesn’t care at all what the people of iowa want. shes acting like a dictator ignoring her constituents and everyone else in the state based on her feelings about this subject. in all honesty we should have recreational marijuana like half the country does and our medical should allow medical patients whatever they want as far as cbd and thc levels. TRIED TO SNEAK ONE IN? sneak one what in? do you have any idea about anything related to this subject or are you just an ignorant person who thinks marijuana is the same as meth and likes to cast judgement over your beer? be quiet idiot loser. for one the medical laws are horribly restricted and limiting the amount of pain relief as well as any other benefit medical marijuana can provide, flower should be an option. recreational would provide MILLIONS in revenue. iowa needs people like yourself and mrs Reynolds to go ahead and expire. youre biased and prejudice is ignorant and its mean hearted. if youre to stupid to understand the subject of medical marijuana you should probably sit down and shut up youre just being a dumb hick. if you disagree with recreational youre just a miss informed Mormon and you need to go sit in the corner. these are conversations for thinking adults not prejudice ignorant morons.
Who is they?
Great job! They tried to sneak one in and got caught.
youre an idiot, you really do not know what youre trying to talk about do you? sneak what in? please enlighten us! we want to know how the mind of a retarded person who can not grasp simple concepts really works. youre a pos. clearly you do not possess any understanding and you must have a problem with cancer kids and the terminally ill? eat a sack of penis.
Sounds like an uneducated, illiterate north end black trying to impress us with his post. If you wish to make a post, please try to write like a white man. Thank you.
yourea loser dude. ill write something like a whiteman for you, being a white man. this crazy governor is out of control. she isn’t worrying about what the people of iowa want, she is instead basing decisions apparently off of her own limited or non existent experience and personal bias. it seems like she wants people to suffer and doesn’t give one sinlge once of a damn about people who spent their entire lives working in the fields shops and factories of this state in unsafe conditions, people who are now dying slow, painful terrible horrible deaths because they were exposed to one hazard pr another in their industry back in the day when people didn’t know or care about chemical exposure to the extent we do today. seems like to her they are used up now and it doesn’t matter if they die in pain with zero quality of life. almost as if she see’s you and I and those before and after us as fodder, worker bees that drop dead and are no longer elevant. she lacks compassion and understanding. shes a bitch. see cbd thc and thca work together to provide a full spectrum of medicinal benefits from marijuana. just cbd or just thca (because thc needs to be activated to become thca and be absorbed by the body) aren’t providing the most efficient and best medicine we are capable of offeng to these people who need the pain and nausea relief. you see, our current “medical marijuana law” is a sham a joke a cruel joke at that. if you have had to watch someone suffer and die due to cancer you might understand better why this law needs to be changed and made into something that provides what people want as well as need, telling terminal patients they have to suffer with cbd oil is just wrong. I saw someone comparing it to heroin and calling it addictive….. heroin and alcohol are both individually much much much worse than marijuana, if you don’t think so I believe you may be to stupid to have this conversation and youmay be to ignorant and underinformed to retain your voting rights, youre brain damaged. on another note why shouldn’t iowa have recreational marijuana? id really like it if our school districts had the money to ensure they educate people to a better standard than your average north iowa today reader. be nice if we had excess revenue, you realise what iowa could do with a few million dollars of free revenue each year?