Poll: Support for medical cannabis grows in Iowa - matching the views in the UK

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowans are warming to the idea of legalizing the use of cannabis for medical purposes, but most of them still don't want to make it legal for recreational use, a new Des Moines Register Iowa Poll shows.


An Iowa law allows some patients with epilepsy to possess a special cannabis extract, such as this Colorado-produced oil. But critics say the new law doesn’t provide a legal way to obtain the oil.


According to the poll, 70% of Iowa adults say they favor legalizing the drug for medical uses, the poll finds. That's up from 59% a year ago and 58% two years ago. However, just 30% of Iowa adults favor legalizing cannabis for recreational use, a level that is essentially unchanged from the past two years.

Iowa legislators last spring passed a limited medical-cannabis bill that would allow possession of a special marijuana extract for people with severe epilepsy. Legislators were persuaded to approve the proposal after parents repeatedly brought their disabled children to the Statehouse to lobby for the right to try the oil to treat seizures.

Patient advocates have called the new law useless, because it doesn't provide for distribution of the medication. They're pushing to broaden the law, to allow people to obtain marijuana products to treat epilepsy and a range of other issues, including cancer, Crohn's disease, chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/02/27/poll-support-medical-marijuana-grows-iowa/24154739/