IOWA DEBATES MEDICINAL USE OF MARIJUANA

DES MOINES --- Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, 53-year-old Barbara
Douglass can no longer walk and uses a scooter.

But she has found one way to cope with a condition she calls "ungodly
and terrible" and to steady her shaking hands --- smoking marijuana.

"It doesn't make it better, but it makes it easier," said Douglass,
who also is legally blind.

Douglass, of Lakeside, is one of two Iowans who are part of federal
program that allows them to smoke marijuana legally for their medical
conditions. Each month, Douglass gets a can of pre-rolled marijuana
cigarettes from her doctor. She finds she is more active after smoking it.

Douglass has a message for Iowa policymakers who are about to start
analyzing the issue: Marijuana is medicine.

Advocates of legalizing the medical use of marijuana are optimistic a
series of public hearings on the issue could open the door to Iowa
becoming the 14th state to effectively allow it.

The Iowa Board of Pharmacy will hold four hearings beginning this
month on the pros and cons of medical marijuana and could make a
recommendation to state lawmakers based on its findings.

Carl Olsen of Iowans for Medical Marijuana has been working since
about 1990 to get the state to recognize the potential medical
benefits of the drug.

Olsen unsuccessfully petitioned the pharmacy board to recognize that
marijuana has accepted medical uses and remove it from Schedule I,
the most restricted class of controlled substances. He plans to
appeal the decision and is organizing supporters of a medical
marijuana law to turn out at the board's hearings, which begin Aug.
19 in Des Moines.

"I want to nail this thing now while I've got the momentum on my
side," Olsen said.

The pharmacy board will accept comments from the public at the
hearings but is especially looking for scientific evidence on the use
of marijuana for medical purposes.

Ultimately, the decision will be in the hands of Iowa lawmakers.

Any change in Iowa's classification of marijuana would have to be
made by the Legislature, said Scott Galenbeck, an assistant Iowa
attorney general who handles legal matters for the pharmacy board.

Legislature is key

An attempt to legalize marijuana for medical use faces an uphill
battle in the Legislature. A similar bill stalled in the Senate last session.

House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, does not think support exists
among majority Democrats in the House. But he said if the pharmacy
board makes a recommendation to allow medical marijuana, it would
lend credibility to the idea.

"I do think it gets to the point then where you'll see other
legislators that may introduce bills in the House, and you might
start some public conversation about this," Murphy said.

Sen. Merlin Bartz, a Republican from Grafton, said under the bill
considered last session "even a veterinarian could have prescribed
medical marijuana."

Bartz had reservations about that legislation, but is open to
allowing marijuana for medical purposes if it is prescribed by a
doctor and has scientifically proven benefits. He believes lawmakers
should take a look at the pharmacy board's findings even if for some
legislators it is a "political hot potato."

"I've always said that good public policy is good politics, but this
frankly may be one of those where people don't want to ? let the
facts confuse them," Bartz said.

Some advocates of medical marijuana appear to be "a little
disingenuous" and simply want to legalize marijuana, an idea Bartz opposes.

One lawmaker staunchly against allowing medical marijuana use is Rep.
Clel Baudler, a Republican and retired state trooper from Greenfield.

"I would fight that totally," Baudler said.

Baudler fears allowing the medical use of marijuana is a step toward
legalization. He pointed to legalization efforts in California.

"It's just another step in ruining our society as we know it and
ruining our nation. I will never, ever support this," Baudler said.

Laws at odds

Even if Iowa allows medical use of marijuana, it is still illegal
under federal law.

Dan Bernath, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the
13 states with medical marijuana laws have protected most patients
from the threat of arrest.

He said federal policy has changed to be more tolerant of state
medical marijuana laws.

"The truth is that most states have written their laws so even the
federal government at its most hostile hasn't had any reason to want
to go in and interfere with those medical marijuana laws," Bernath said.

OPTIONAL TRIM

The Marijuana Policy Project believes any effective state medical
marijuana law has to be clearly written so law enforcement officials
and patients know whether someone is obeying it.

"The law has to be easy to understand, easy to follow and truly
protect patients from the threat of arrest from state, local and
federal law enforcement," Bernath said.

Bernath said it also is important that the law allows a way for
patients to obtain marijuana. Every state that has an effective
medical marijuana law also has a way for patients to grow marijuana
for their personal use or designate somebody to grow it for them, he said.

Three states' laws allow for distribution centers --- California,
Rhode Island and New Mexico, according to Bernath.

Douglass, the Lakeside woman who smokes marijuana for her MS, has
been enrolled in federal medical marijuana the program since 1991 and
is one of only a handful of people still in it.

She hopes other Iowans would have a chance to use marijuana legally
if it would ease symptoms of their medical conditions.

"Marijuana helps --- it helps a lot of things for me," Douglass said.

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Medicinal marijuana

States that effectively allow the use of marijuana for medical
purposes: California, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Maine, Nevada,
Colorado, Hawaii, Vermont, Montana, Rhode Island, New Mexico and Michigan.

What Iowa's doing: The Iowa Pharmacy Board has scheduled four public
hearings in the coming months to gather scientific data and comments
about medical marijuana.

Information board is seeking: Current scientific knowledge of
marijuana, marijuana's abuse or potential for abuse, pharmacological
effect, risk to the public health from moving marijuana to a
different controlled substance schedule and other factors.

Upcoming hearings: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 19, Iowa State Historical
Building, Des Moines; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 2, Music Man Square
Reunion Hall, Mason City; noon to 7 p.m. Oct. 7, Bowen Science
Building, Iowa City; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 4, Harrah's Council
Bluffs, Ballroom 1, Council Bluffs.

More information: Available at the Iowa Pharmacy Board's Web site at
http://www.iowa.gov/ibpe/

Sources: Marijuana Policy Project, Iowa Pharmacy Board.