LOCAL LEGISLATORS NOT KEEN ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

If local legislators have their way, a plan by the Iowa Board of
Pharmacy to introduce and support the legalization of marijuana for
medical purposes will go up in smoke.

Last week, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy voted 6-0 to propose legislation
that would reclassify marijuana and therefore make it easier to
legalize the drug for use in medicine.

Local legislators are not so keen on the idea.

"As a substance abuse counselor, I have grave concerns about
furthering the use of marijuana," said Rep. Mark Smith,
D-Marshalltown.

Sen. Steve Sodders, D-State Center, said he also has seen the impact
of marijuana in his chosen profession - law enforcement.

"We know it's a gateway drug to all sorts of other drug abuses," he
said. "I would be opposed to it. From my view, there's no such thing
as medical use of marijuana."

Rep. Annette Sweeney, R-Alden, said she understands there are many
people who want to use the drug as a way of dealing with pain, but she
also said there are other legal alternatives for pain treatment.

In addition, she said friends in California, where some use of
marijuana is permitted for medicinal purposes, have told her about
abuses in the system where people purport to have a medical purpose,
but in reality are recreational users.

"What's going on out there is a travesty," she said.

Even if these legislators did not speak for the majority of those in
the Iowa House and Senate, Gov.-elect Terry Branstad has said he is
not interested in signing a bill that would make medical marijuana
more easily available.