Hey, now...
Here is a really great interview I did yesterday on MacsWorldLive.Com
http://macsworldlive.com/617-should-iowa-leagalize-medical-marijuana/
Here is a very good piece you ought to read:
Congressional Research Service - Library of Congress
Medical Marijuana: Review and Analysis of Federal and State Policies
Mark Eddy
Specialist in Crime Policy
March 31, 2009
The public hearing on June 1 was not announced. I’m the petitioner, and they didn’t even bother to notify me. I just happened to look at their web site on Friday, May 29 and noticed it by accident.
I don’t know why they are holding a public hearing. The judge's order told them to rule on my petition. It’s a legal question, so I’m not sure what public opinion has to do with it.
I called and they said it was okay for me to attend the public hearing on my petition, so I’ll be there. Several patients will be there. I think the ACLU of Iowa will be there.
It will be interesting to see who they invited. There’s nothing else on the agenda that afternoon, so they are giving it quite a lot of time.
Here's a conspiracy theory.
Senator Joe Bolkcom is working on medical marijuana legislation here in Iowa, SF 293.
In March, the Board of Pharmacy sent SF 293 to the Iowa Pharmacy Association for review. See page 3 of the March 13, 2009, minutes of the Board of Pharmacy.
Something tells me the Iowa Pharmacy Association will be the ones who got an invitation to Monday’s public hearing while the rest of us just have to watch their web site (so they can say it was publicly announced).
I don’t predict the outcome will be any different, but the Board just seems to have a strange way of operating.
Isn’t the Board supposed to be protecting the citizens from the pharmaceutical industry?
Isn’t that why we have regulations?
The Iowa Board of Pharmacy will be holding an open (public) meeting on the medical marijuana ruling from the Iowa District Court on Monday, June 1, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. The Board denied my petition because I did not submit scientific evidence that marijuana has no high potential for abuse. The Iowa District Court ruled that scientic evidence was not relevant to my claim that marijuana has accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. The Iowa Board of Pharmacy must decide whether marijuana has accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. The Iowa District Court ruled that the evidence I submitted, 13 state medical marijuana laws, was sufficient evidence for the Board to make a decision on the question I asked them to decide.
Here is another favorable article suggesting that Iowa legalize marijuana for medical use from the Des Moines Register:
Let Iowans ease their pain with medical marijuana