Legalization of Cannibidoil for medical use has been moved forward in this year’s Iowa Legislative session, and Representative Brian Best said there is a lot of misunderstanding of exactly what Cannabidoil is.
The bill was first presented with a broad spectrum of diagnoses for treatment, including Multiple Sclerosis, nausea, AIDS, Epilepsy, Hepatitis C, Crohn’s Disease, ALS and more. Best said that it had to be amended down to three diagnoses only—Epilepsy, MS and terminal cancer, to pass in a 12 to 6 vote. What makes this topic so complicated, he said, is that the Federal Drug Administration hasn’t really made a decision, so states don’t know what they should be doing.
The general consensus is that if they allow for a few additional diagnoses, it may be manufactured in Iowa. Another thing to help get this on track is to move it from a schedule one to a schedule two drug, which will lower the controversy. Best said, a mother in his district has a child born with a brain injury who is currently on clinical trials of Cannabidoil. This is the only drug they have used in approximately 20 years that has eased her daughter’s symptoms with no side effects. For the first time in her life, the seizures are down from over 100 a day to 10, and she could do something she has never done before—turn on a light switch. Her mother is asking me, Best said, what is going to happen when the trial is over.
The Cannabidoil bill is one of many state legislators are reviewing in this year’s legislative session. Questions about this bill, or any others currently on the floor, can be answered by local Legislators at the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce Legislative Forums. The next forum is scheduled for Saturday, March 5 at 10 a.m. in room 311 at St. Anthony Regional Hospital.
