Medical Cannabidiol Board - November 18 2022

Proposed Legislation – November 18, 2022

Segment 2, at: 0:00:39
CARL OLSEN:  I want to thank the board for the excellent work it has done.  The Iowa legislature did a good job of creating this board of medical experts and I want to thank you all for volunteering to serve.
      As you must know, medical cannabis is not just a medical issue.  It’s also a legal issue.  Iowa has carved out an exception for medical cannabis from Schedule I of the state Controlled Substances Act.  Cannabis is still classified as Schedule I in Iowa.
      There are provisions in both federal and international drug law for exceptions, but Iowa hasn’t moved forward to comply with those provisions.  Medical use of cannabis is not something the federal government decided to do, so it’s up to the states to finish what they’ve started.
      I would like to ask the board to recommend the legislature create a task force of legal experts to carefully review the state, federal, and international drug laws to come up with an application for an exception under 21 U.S.C. § 822(d) and 21 C.F.R. § 1307.03, which are the statute and regulation that allow for exceptions to federal Schedule I.
      The international treaties have exceptions for domestic law, so that should not be a huge obstacle once the federal government recognizes an exception for Iowa’s domestic law.
      I’ve been amazed at the professionalism this board has shown.  If we had a task force of legal experts with the same level of excellence, we could show our state is up to this task.  Thank you again for your service.

Segment 5, at: 0:11:18
DR. ANDREA WEBER:  There is a question, I think it was Carl that brought it up, as far as having a committee of legal experts.  A lot of this stuff predates my joining of the board, so I was just curious where people stood on that idea.
OWEN PARKER:  Yeah, I mean, again, we are ...  Sorry, go ahead Dr. Shreck ...
DR. BOB SHRECK:  Andrea, thank you for bringing that up.  Mr. Olsen is a believer in the law.  He thinks we should all be honest.  We should all obey laws as they are passed.  And he points out that we are all a bunch of criminals because we are violating federal law.  And he thinks that’s unnecessary.  He thinks there’s a way to fix it.  He thinks that the state can obtain an exemption from the restrictions on cannabis.  And, as far as I can tell from reading what he’s done, and he’s been very persistent about this, I think he’s correct.  This is the pathway to proceed to do this.  And, it’s been done half-heartedly by some parts of our government, ... at least it hasn’t gone forward and been successful.  It may have actually been misdirected at some point, if I recall.  But I would whole-heartedly support Carl’s recommendation.  And I would propose that the board make that recommendation.  I’m not sure how we would recruit a legal panel.  I’m glad you brought that up because I did not mean to overlook that.  I would propose, recommend, make a motion that we take Mr. Olsen’s recommendation to heart and recommend that this board be created.
OWEN PARKER:  Yeah, I mean, I would be happy to, I think in terms for the purposes of this, you know, we can make another motion, formal motion, Captain McKelvey, to just request that the legislature adopt that request.  You know, again, I think the minutia and how that will go down is still going to be up to the legislature and the administration.  But there’s nothing that precludes the board from including that in this annual report.  Captain McKelvey, do you want to do a roll call vote on just the inclusion of Carl’s request.
CPT. MIKE MCKELVEY:  Is it fair to say Dr. Weber was the motion and Dr. Shreck was the second?
OWEN PARKER:  That works.
CPT. MIKE MCKELVEY:  Is there any further discussion before we take a roll call vote?
DR. STEVEN RICHARDS:  Yeah, this is Steve Richards.  My discussion is maybe Carl should be on that panel.  I’ve been quite impressed by his unusual expertise on the law.  He talks about subjects that are over my head.
DR. BOB SHRECK:  I agree.
OWEN PARKER:  Carl knows his stuff, for sure.
CPT. MIKE MCKELVEY:  Alright, we’ll take the roll call vote.  If you say yes you’re in favor of recommending this to the state.  Dr. Shreck?
DR. BOB SHRECK:  Yes.
CPT. MIKE MCKELVEY:  Dr. Richards?
DR. STEVEN RICHARDS:  Yes.
CPT. MIKE MCKELVEY:  Dr. Stoken?
DR. JACQUELINE STOKEN:  Yes.
CPT. MIKE MCKELVEY:  Dr. Weber?
DR. ANDREA WEBER:  Yes.
CPT. MIKE MCKELVEY:  Dr. Mokadem is absent, but my vote would also be yes.