Iowa medical marijuana board to consider PTSD, Alzheimer’s as treatable conditions

The Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Board will consider changes to the state’s medical marijuana program this week, which include the addition of more qualifying conditions and a recommendation to remove the 3 percent THC cap and replace it with a purchase limit.

The board will meet on Friday to vote on petitions that would allow people with post-traumatic stress disorder, opioid use disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, and intellectual disability with aggression and/or self-injury to use medical cannabidiol to treat their conditions.

If the board approves the petitions, they will move to the Iowa Medical Board for a vote.

If the medical board approves a petition, an effective date will be set so patients can have their condition certified for medical marijuana use.

The meeting is open to the public and will take place at the Iowa Laboratory Facility in Ankeny on the Des Moines Area Community College campus.

The petitions for PTSD, opioid use disorder and Alzheimer’s disease were put to the board my MedPharm Iowa, one of two companies approved to produce and sell medical marijuana in Iowa.

MedPharm General Manager Lucas Nelson said the petition regarding PTSD is one of the most comprehensive proposals the company has put before the board, as it references “more than 60 sources” that demonstrate the effectiveness of medical marijuana for people with the condition.

“It’s not going to work for every single patient, but in this compassionate care program, there’s no reason it would not be one of the approved conditions,” Nelson said. [Read more at The Gazette]