| Photo: StopTheDrugWar.org |
| Patient advocate Carl Olsen: “That creates an obligation on the part of the state to move forward and do something about it” |
A Des Moines man involved in the effort to legalize medical marijuana in Iowa said he plans to petition the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to write rules allowing the use of the herb medicinally. Carl Olsen’s comments followed House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s Monday announcement the Legislature has dropped plans to have a committee study the issue.
McCarthy said it appears that according to the Iowa Code, it is the board’s duty, not that of the Legislature, to write the medical marijuana rules. According to Olsen, the matter could wind up in the courts, reports Pat Curtis at Radio Iowa.
“The question in the judicial review would be whether (the pharmacy board) has a duty to make the rules,” Olsen said. “McCarthy seems to be saying they do and he’s an attorney.”
“So, I would file for the judicial review and whatever outcome came out of it, the question McCarthy is raising would be answered by it,” Olsen said.
Earlier this year, the pharmacy board recommended Iowa lawmakers change the classification of marijuana to make it easier for doctors to authorize patients to use it medically. But according to Olsen, both the Board of Pharmacy and the Legislature are unwilling to take it to the next step.
“It’s going to break somewhere,” Olsen said. “I think the Board of Pharmacy is a good first step in looking at the scientific literature and reaching the conclusion that it does have medical use.”
“That creates an obligation on the part of the state to move forward and do something about it,” Olsen said.
A Des Moines Register Iowa Poll in February found that 64 percent of Iowans support allowing patients to use marijuana if their doctors recommend it.
Fourteen states in the U.S. have already legalized the medical use of marijuana.