The Iowa Board of Pharmacy will be holding an open (public) meeting on the medical marijuana ruling from the Iowa District Court on Tuesday, July 21, 2009, from 9:50 a.m. to 10:20 a.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.
At the public hearing on June 1, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy claimed I was asking if marijuana should have accepted medical use in Iowa, which is not the question I asked them to decide. Iowa law says nothing about accepted medical use in Iowa. It says, "accepted medical use in treatment in the United States." If the Board doesn't like the way the statute is written, it needs to says so instead of trying to act like it says something it does not say.
The announcement for the public hearing says speakers will be allowed 5 minutes to speak, which is the same thing the announcement for the June 1 public hearing said. I was not allowed to speak at the June 1 public hearing, and I'm sure I won't be allowed to speak on July 21, even though it says speakers can have 5 minutes. The Iowa Board of Pharmacy doesn't know the meaning of "due process." We will educate them.