Carl Olsen is the founder of Iowans for Medical Marijuana.

The Iowa Department of Corrections filed two study bills this week, asking Iowa legislators to make an exception to the state’s medical cannabis program, Iowa Code Chapter 124E.

Senate Study Bill 3020 and companion House Study Bill 524 call for amending the statute so the state can

Revoke a medical cannabidiol registration card issued to a person who becomes committed to the custody of the director of the Iowa department of corrections or placed under the supervision of the Iowa department of corrections.

Last year, I asked the department for a copy of their policy on medical cannabis, and they sent me the last revision of HSP-405 (revised in November 2022), which says:

Patients who were registered in the Iowa Department of Public Health Medical Cannabidiol Program and who possessed and used medical cannabidiol products prior to incarceration will NOT be allowed to continue doing so while in any IDOC facility (institution or CBC) or when under DOC supervision (parole, probation, etc.). IDOC providers are not routinely certified as participants in the Medical Cannabidiol Program and therefore cannot continue a patient’s therapy during the time he/she is incarcerated. In addition, since cannabis products are still Schedule I controlled substances under federal law, making their use still technically illegal, the use of these products is not appropriate in any government facility which may receive federal funding, grants, or participate in other federal programs.

Cannabis and cannabis extracts (cannabidiol) are illegal. Any state agency or private institution that receives federal funding is in jeopardy of losing that funding if they allow cannabis extracts (cannabidiol) to be used onsite at one of their facilities.

The Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Board addressed this exact issue in its Annual Report, dated January 1, 2019:

The Board recommends the Legislature address the use of medical cannabidiol products in long-term and acute care settings, as well as in schools.

In 2020, the Iowa legislature enacted House File 2589, § 31 addressing this issue.

The department of public health shall request guarantees from the agencies of the federal government providing funding to educational and long-term care facilities that facilities with policies allowing patients to possess medical cannabidiol on the grounds of the facilities consistent with chapter 124E or allowing facility staff to administer medical cannabidiol to a patient shall not lose eligibility for any federal funding due to such policies.

The Medical Cannabidiol Program Update on September 4, 2020, announced the department’s path forward:

• In their 2019 Annual Report, the Board recommended that IDPH seek protections for schools and facilities participating in our program and acting in compliance with Chapter 124E.
• The General Assembly prescribed in HF2589 that IDPH “seek guarantees” that Federal funding to institutions and facilities acting in compliance with Chapter 124E not have their funding withheld due to participation in Iowa’s program.
• The Department has determined that it will move forward with seeking an exception for cannabis as a schedule I substance in Iowa from the DEA, in attempt to minimize conflict between State and Federal Law.
• The Department will seek this exception using Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations 1307.03.

The department sent the request to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in April 2021, but the DEA hasn’t responded.

In its Annual Report, January 1, 2023, and in its Annual Report, January 1, 2024, the Medical Cannabidiol Board recommended creating a legal task force:

The Board recommends that a task force of legal experts be authorized, similar to the current board of medical experts, to assist the Department in navigating the legal issues involved with requesting an exemption for Iowa’s program from necessary Federal agencies. This is related to a recommendation in the Board’s 2019 Annual Report and the passage of HF2589 in June 2020.

Iowa Senate Judiciary Committee chair Brad Zaun introduced the board’s recommendation last year as Senate File 69. A subcommittee approved the bill, but ironically, SF 69 was withdrawn the day of the committee vote because of negative publicity in the Des Moines Register regarding the Continuing Criminal Enterprise, 21 U.S.C. § 848, authorized to grow and supply medical cannabis products to patients in Iowa.

February 27, 2023, The Des Moines Register, Tensions grow between medical marijuana board and Iowa’s only manufacturer over THC caps

February 27, 2023, The Des Moines Register, Iowa’s medical marijuana program is growing as THC waivers soar. Is it leading to abuse?

I appreciate the valid concerns of the Department of Corrections, but we should do everything we can to protect our state law from federal interference when the federal government can and has issued exemptions and waivers in the past. 

Take a look at 21 C.F.R. § 1307.31 for a good example of that, religious use of a Schedule I controlled substance is exempt and suppliers are registered with the DEA. We can do that for the patients participating in our program, and our growers and suppliers can be registered with the DEA so nobody is coerced or entrapped into violating federal drug law.