TIME TO STIR THE POT AND GET MEDICAL MARIJUANA MOVING

We were impressed last September by the people who spoke in favor of
medical marijuana during an Iowa Pharmacy Board hearing in Mason City.

We were encouraged when that same board voted unanimously in February
that marijuana has medicinal properties that could help Iowans the way
it is helping people in 14 other states and the District of Columbia.

At last, we thought, a proven form of relief could soon be on the way
for the many Iowans who could benefit from using marijuana to ease
conditions caused by cancer and other diseases.

We couldn't have been more wrong.

It seems the future of medical marijuana is anything but certain
because of bickering in Des Moines.

When the Pharmacy Board voted to recommend marijuana be allowed for
medical use, it also asked the Legislature to create a study committee
to look at how that use could be implemented.

For some unexplained reason, both sides believe they've done all they
can do and that the next step is up to the other to take.

On one side, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, said
that after the board's recommendation, he discovered an apparently
forgotten law that allows the Pharmacy Board to authorize marijuana
use for medicinal purposes.

The board, he said, can treat marijuana like any other schedule II
drug that requires a prescription.

"No change is needed" in the law, McCarthy said.

But the Pharmacy Board doesn't see it that way. The board, said
Executive Director Lloyd Jessen, is limited in its authority. It can't
establish a distribution system, create a list of medical conditions
marijuana could be prescribed for, set criminal penalties for
violating the law or create a quality-control system.

"We are here to regulate pharmacies and pharmacists," Jessen said.
"... This requires legislation that is signed by the governor."

We're not legal experts, but it seems likely that the Legislature must
take the next step. Certainly, it wouldn't be difficult to do as those
other 14 states and the District of Columbia can provide a template.

As one pro-medicinal marijuana advocate said, "They don't need to
reinvent the wheel here."

No, they don't; they just need to get it rolling.

The public is in favor of medical marijuana by a 62 percent majority,
according to the latest poll on the subject.

The Pharmacy Board, at four public hearings around the state, heard
hundreds of pro-marijuana comments, many by those the drug could help
and by those who are forced to seek its medical benefits illegally
now.

The board itself, consisting of five Iowa pharmacists and one public
member, believe it will help.

And yet the suffering goes on. There's not one bit of movement toward
providing what most people believe is a good idea.

How sad.

In February, we published a Quad-City Times editorial that reflected
our view on the issue: The Iowa Legislature must proceed on this
issue, regarding this type of marijuana as a medicine.

If lawmakers are afraid of repercussions from those who don't
understand its value or who don't take the time to be educated on the
issue, they shouldn't be.

They should respect the opinions of professionals - and the pleas of
many who could be helped.

We hope the Legislature will establish a medical marijuana system that
gets it to those who need it most while regulating it as it does many
other medicines.

This issue has dragged on too long. And that's a shame considering the
relief that medicinal marijuana has been proven to provide.