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News (Media Awareness Project) - US IA: Attempt To Legalize Marijuana For Medical Use Fails
Title:US IA: Attempt To Legalize Marijuana For Medical Use Fails
Published On:2009-03-13
Source:Le Mars Daily Sentinel (IA)
Fetched On:2009-03-15 12:01:20
ATTEMPT TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL USE FAILS AGAIN

Iowa Will Not Be Joining 13 Other States That Allow Using Marijuana
For Medical Purposes.

A bill that dealt with that was taken off the table Tuesday.

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, who filed Senate File 293 last week,
pulled the bill during a subcommittee meeting, the first step any
bill must pass through.

"He realized there were some flaws to it and he wanted to relook at
it," said Sen. Randy Feenstra. "He may come back with it next year."

One of the problems with Bolkcom's bill was that it stated a
"practitioner could prescribe it and the person could grow it,
distribute it, and use it," Feenstra said.

He said the word "practitioner" was ambiguous as it didn't identify
whether that was a doctor or someone else.

"There were some big, gaping loopholes in this bill," Feenstra said.

Bolkcom did not return a call to the Daily Sentinel seeking
information as to his initial support of the bill.

This year was not the first time a bill to legalize marijuana for
medical purposes in Iowa came before legislators.

In the 1993 legislative session another such bill passed the Senate
with a 50-0 vote, but was not picked up by the House, Feenstra said.

"That bill was substantially different than the one they talked
about yesterday (Monday)," he said. "The difference was it needed to
be FDA certified marijuana. It needed to be prescribed by a
physician, and it had to go through the pharmacy."

Feenstra said the reason the Senate passed the bill in 1993 to
legalize marijuana for medical purposes was because a federal study
completed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clarified
marijuana as a drug that could relieve pain.

The 1993 attempt was the last bill until this year, said Feenstra,
who opposes legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.

"I'm just against it because I think we already have other drugs
that doctors can prescribe," he said. "I don't think we need to
prescribe marijuana at this point."

Bolkcom's now dead legislative bill focused on making marijuana a
legal treatment for certain debilitating medical conditions such as
Alzheimer's disease, cancer and those that cause severe pain, severe
nausea and certain seizures.

A search of the Internet revealed thousands of websites where
advocates favor legalizing marijuana for medical purposes because
research has indicated the drug does help with those conditions and
many others.

Liz Kurth, a registered nurse and oncology certified nurse and
oncology coordinator at Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars, said there
are better drugs on the market today that are very effective in
treating conditions like severe nausea in chemotherapy patients.

"In my opinion the drugs we have such as Zofran and Kytril, they do
a wonderful job of controlling nausea," Kurth said. "I don't see
great strides in using marijuana. I think it's almost going backward."

Kurth said has treated a couple patients who moved to Iowa from
other states where they had used Marinol, the synthetic form of
marijuana, to treat their nausea related to chemotherapy.

"They said it didn't really help for long-term use," Kurth said.

Others including Rep. Chuck Soderberg, of Le Mars, are also against
legalizing marijuana for medical purposes for a variety of reasons.

Plymouth County Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo and Le Mars Police Chief
Stu Dekkenga have similar views.

"It's going to get into the hands of people who don't need it," Van
Otterloo said. "I think it would make it even easier for marijuana
possession."

Dekkenga said legalizing marijuana would create a host of problems.

For example, it would be difficult to determine who would be
eligible and who would be the source of that marijuana. Insurance
companies would have to rewrite their insurance policies and new
laws would have to be written, Dekkenga said.

"In a time in history where our society boasts we have a drug that
will cure almost anything, where does smoking marijuana come into
that?" Dekkenga asked. "I think it's a political thing. People have
been self-medicating with marijuana for years. They just want to do
it without getting caught."

Dekkenga said there are bigger issues in Iowa than legalizing
marijuana to worry about like the economy and people losing their jobs.

"I wish our legislators would worry about the issues at hand instead
of worrying about where people are going to get their pot," Dekkenga
said. "I don't see the purpose of legalizing it."

Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Michigan,
Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Rhode Island and Washington
have laws legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.
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