An Iowa House sub-committee advanced a bill last week that would change Iowa’s medical marijuana laws.

Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoed similar legislation in spring 2019. The new bill scaled back the number of grams patients can receive in a 90 day period from 25 grams in the 2019 bill to 4.5 grams in the new bill.

Rep. Bob Kressig, D-Cedar Falls, said the change in the bill was “not good.”

“That will really create a problem for people,” Kressig said.

Lance Leski, senior in computer science and president of the National Organization of the Reform of Marijuana Laws at Iowa State (NORML), said this bill limits the variety of strains patients can purchase.

“In the grand scheme of things, these changes mean that any cannabis sold in the state of Iowa will actually have less potential to heal anyone with a medical issue,” Leski said.

Kressig said the change from 25 grams to 4.5 is not ideal for Iowa, and he would like to see it stay at the 2019 level of 25 or some other higher number than 4.5.

“It’s a bad policy; it basically makes Iowa the worst on medical cannabis,” Kressig said. “I think what needs to happen is we take it to the 25-gram dosage.”

Although Kressig doesn’t think the amount is a good number for patients, he said he thought the exchange from a percentage of THC to grams of THC is a good change.

Leski said there are benefits such as allowing nurses and physicians to certify patients.

“I think the new bill is pretty underwhelming overall,” Leski said. “Certain measures have been taken to make the bill more inclusive — like allowing nurses and physician’s assistants to certify patients — and I think those should be praised.”

Despite certain benefits, Kressig said this bill could lead to patients running out of medical marijuana for treatment and switching to other drugs.

“They’ll go back to opioids,” Kressig said. “It’s sad to see chronic pain […]; we don’t even know what it’s like to live with it.”

Leski said this bill shows those in government aren’t thinking about those that need medication.

“In the end, it’s concerning to know that a bill meant to give patients access to an alternative source of medicine is being examined under the scope of ‘How can we make sure that this won’t work too well?’” Leski said. “It shows that some [legislators] are still irrationally thinking more about the people who will abuse the medical system rather than those who will benefit from it.”

Kressig said Illinois recently legalized recreational marijuana, and Minnesota provided more services for those with post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions, so Iowa needs to address this situation.

“We need to wake up on this and hopefully address what needs to be done,” Kressig said.

Even with this bill, Leski said he thinks Iowa will eventually allow recreational cannabis.

“Realistically, I think this bill will have a very small lasting effect on most Iowans as time moves forward,” Leski said.  “One day we will probably have recreational cannabis available to us, and this whole debate over the current bill will seem like a fun-fact historical footnote. That’s just how progress works. As of now, people and students should realize that this isn’t really about them. It’s about making sure patients can finally get access to cannabis-related products that help them feel more aligned with the world around them.”