{"id":287,"date":"2010-11-09T12:49:24","date_gmt":"2010-11-09T18:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=287"},"modified":"2010-12-06T14:05:26","modified_gmt":"2010-12-06T20:05:26","slug":"government-proves-nuns-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=287","title":{"rendered":"Government Proves Nuns Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As a young student in Catholic grade school, I was taught that only God could be in two places at the same time.\u00a0 I had doubts at the time because I could swear my mother\u2019s ears were in several places simultaneously.\u00a0 Superman could get from one place to another in a matter of seconds, but it wasn\u2019t the same as being here and there all at once.<\/p>\n

The government can be in two places at the same time, but that\u2019s a collective government.\u00a0 The Internet has allowed many of us to be in one place while \u201cvirtually\u201d being in another place at the same time.\u00a0 So, I\u2019ve established that it\u2019s physically impossible to be in two places at the same time.<\/p>\n

Well, the government proved me and those nuns wrong.\u00a0 If you look in the Iowa Code, you will find marijuana in two places at the same time.\u00a0 I\u2019m not referring to just the word; the manner in which it is described defies all logic.\u00a0 Marijuana is a Schedule I substance.\u00a0 To be included in Schedule I a substance is considered to have a \u201chigh potential for abuse; and it has \u201cno<\/strong> accepted medical use<\/strong> in treatment in the United States\u201d.\u00a0 Now, keeping that in mind, you will find that marijuana is also located in Schedule II substances.\u00a0 A substance listed in Schedule II is one that \u201chas high potential for abuse\u201d and \u201chas currently accepted medical use<\/strong> in treatment in the United States, or currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions\u201d.<\/p>\n

There are some caveats, you know, like when the language under Schedule I says stuff like \u201cTetrahydrocannabinols, except as otherwise provided by rules of the board for medicinal purposes,\u201d but the point is there.\u00a0 And therein lies the problem.\u00a0 Marijuana has and has not accepted medical use \u2013 at the same time.\u00a0 Under both schedules, there is language providing that if the board [of pharmacy] \u201c finds that any substance included in [either schedule] does not meet these criteria, it shall recommend that the general assembly place the substance in a different schedule or remove it from the list of controlled substances, as appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, as the Iowa Board of Pharmacy met in a regularly scheduled meeting, one of the items on the agenda was the continuing matter of medical marijuana.\u00a0 Carl Olsen was there and taped the pertinent part of the meeting.\u00a0 You can listen to a little over 20 minutes of the discussion here:\u00a0 Audio Recording of November 2, 2010, Iowa Board of Pharmacy hearing (19 MB)<\/a>.\u00a0 To summarize, the Board knows it has a dilemma.\u00a0 It wants to communicate with the Iowa Legislature about a recommendation, but it doesn\u2019t necessarily know what it wants to communicate or recommend.\u00a0 At the beginning of the recording you can hear Lloyd Jensen, executive director of the Board, ask the members if they would like to write a letter to the Iowa Legislature, pre-file a bill, or both.<\/h4>\n

Discussion got off track as soon as Mr. Jensen mentioned the proposed rule that Carl Olsen had submitted for the Board\u2019s consideration.\u00a0 Several Board members wanted to wash their hands of the issue by suggesting that the Board of Medicine write a rule.\u00a0 Uh-uh, the law says Board of Pharmacy must make any rules under Chapter 124 \u2013 the Code chapter that lists, defines, and categorizes controlled substances.<\/h4>\n

There was genuine concern about the FDA and DEA.\u00a0 You could almost hear the wringing of hands.\u00a0 However, the voice of reason \u2013 Lloyd Jensen \u2013 led them back to reality by informing them that they could just put everything into a bill.\u00a0 \u201cThe legislators will pick and choose what they want to keep or throw out, if they do anything at all.\u201d<\/h4>\n

One Board member made a motion to have the Legislative Rules Review Committee look at it and have them (sic) craft language.\u00a0 The motion carried.\u00a0 I hate to inform the Board that the LRRC does not craft language.\u00a0 \u201cReview\u201d is basically all that committee can do.\u00a0 It has other things that it can do, but it does not write rules.<\/h4>\n

Carl\u2019s petition for rulemaking<\/a> was shot down.\u00a0 The reason for rejection may have been one or more reasons put forth to the Board by the Board\u2019s attorney.\u00a0 1)\u00a0 It can\u2019t be done; 2) it\u2019s unclear; 3) it\u2019s moot because the Board is making a recommendation to the Legislature; 4) refer to the previous order (which was issued last summer for another proposed rule); or, 5) deny it on the grounds that the Board doesn\u2019t have the authority to negate criminal law.\u00a0 There was some suggestion that the Board could draft a rule that wouldn\u2019t take effect until some other rule, a statute, or federal movement occurred.\u00a0 In effect, it would be sort of a \u201cwhat if\u201d rule.<\/h4>\n

At that point, after denying Carl\u2019s petition for rulemaking for whatever reason (if there was one), the Board considered the matter done for the day and took a break.\u00a0 The audio recording was over and I was left empty.\u00a0 The Board never did come to a conclusion about how it was going to communicate to the Legislature, or what it was going to recommend.\u00a0 I spoke with Carl later and he assured me that something will be done [by the Board].\u00a0 I\u2019m not holding my breath for this Legislature to do anything.<\/h4>\n

We encourage you to learn much more about this issue.\u00a0 It\u2019s one in which our readers can have a substantial edge of knowledge \u2013 more than most members of the Board of Pharmacy.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be exposing more inexperience on the Pharmacy Board, and offering additional information in the future.\u00a0 Contact your legislators and urge them to \u201celiminate marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Chapter, Chapter 124.\u201d\u00a0 Only God should be able to be in two places at one time.<\/h4>\n

\u00a9 Copyright 2010 Fawkes-Lee & Ryan.\u00a0 All rights reserved.<\/em><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To summarize, the Board knows it has a dilemma. It wants to communicate with the Iowa Legislature about a recommendation, but it doesn\u2019t necessarily know what it wants to communicate or recommend. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,43],"tags":[115,117,109,116,45,111,112,113,110,114],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issues","category-medical-cannabis","tag-board-of-pharmacy","tag-carl-olsen","tag-god","tag-lloyd-jensen","tag-marijuana","tag-nuns","tag-schedule-i","tag-schedule-ii","tag-superman","tag-tetrahydrocannabinols"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions\/321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}