BOARD HEARS MEDICINAL MARIJUANA PROPONENTS

Larry Quigley said he has tried all manner of treatment since
suffering a spinal cord injury 28 years ago without success, which has
meant a life in a wheelchair.

It wasn't until his birthday this past April, however, that he smoked
marijuana and first discovered its medicinal effects. While other
prescribed drugs had clouded his mind, he said, marijuana quelled the
pain and spasms without the side effects.

Quigley called on officials from the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to take
steps toward the legalization of medical marijuana Wednesday at a
public hearing at the University of Iowa's Bowen Science Building.

"It's time that Iowa really looked at this seriously," Quigley said.
"I've thought about going to other states. I would have to leave my
11-year-old here, and I'm not willing to do that."

The hearing was the third of four public forums around the state
hosted by the Iowa Board of Pharmacy, which is collecting evidence and
testimony from doctors, scientists and the general public before it
makes a recommendation regarding medical marijuana to the
Legislature.

Quigley was one of several people suffering from medical conditions
who implored the board to allow Iowa to join 13 other states in
legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.

Board of Pharmacy Director Lloyd Jessen and board member Peggy
Whitworth were among the officials on hand collecting testimonies and
information.

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, introduced a bill earlier this year to
allow a person with a debilitating condition and a physician's
prescription to legally obtain marijuana for medicinal use. Although
the bill did not make it out of subcommittee, Bolkcom said Wednesday
that he has since received dozens of e-mails, the vast majority of
which are in favor of his efforts.

"I've heard from chronically ill people who have been prescribed all
of the most powerful narcotics available at any pharmacy with little
positive effect," Bolkcom said. "Drugs like morphine, Oxycontin,
Percocet, codeine -- drugs by the way, that have powerful side effects."

Local ophthalmologist John Stamler touted the benefits of marijuana in
treating glaucoma, which he said is the leading cause of blindness in
the U.S.

Stamler said marijuana has great potential to help glaucoma patients,
but because the drug is illegal, scientists are doing little research
on its effects.

"So without being licensable for use with patients, these potentially
very useful drugs will never be investigated and never be studied,"
Stamler said.

However, Ron Herman, the director of Iowa Drug Information Network at
UI's College of Pharmacy, cautioned that the adverse effects of
smoking marijuana cannot be overlooked. With glaucoma patients, for
instance, marijuana might reduce the pressure on the eye, but at the
same time potentially raise blood pressure.

Herman presented the board with a summarized collection of 91 studies
involving medical marijuana that he and his students prepared. Herman
said the studies show a benefit from marijuana in many uses, and it
fared better than a placebo in the preponderance of cases.

"You can't say, yes, it works," Herman said. "You have to look at it
in the context in which it's working and the potential consequences
and adverse effects that are associated with it."

Lisa Jackson of Crawfordsville said she has lived with fibromyalgia, a
neurological disorder, for seven years and was bed-ridden and
considering suicide before beginning to use marijuana two years ago.
Although she has to purchase the drug illegally, she says it is the
only drug that has allowed her to function.

"Is it worth going to jail? For me, it is," she said. "I can either go
back to bed, or I can smoke marijuana. And I'm not going back to bed.
I don't have any other options."