CLINTON - Local organizations hosted a town hall on marijuana Monday, hoping to educate the community about the negative effects of the most commonly used drug.

The event, hosted by the Camanche-DeWitt Coalition, Gateway Impact Coalition and the Abbey Treatment Center, discussed the myths and facts relating to marijuana use in the community. Steve Cundiff, co-chairman of the Camanche-DeWitt Coalition, said while working on a drug task force for 10 years, the force often arrested the same people multiple times and even arrested children of the people they had previously arrested.

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At least three inmates have died in the past two years due to drug overdoses, records show.

[name1 redacted], 34, died in a hospital in March 2014 after Black Hawk County Jail officials found him unresponsive. It was later determined that [name1 redacted] had ingested drugs before his arrest, according to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

[name2 redacted], 25, of Council Bluffs, died in December. An investigation showed that she smuggled methamphetimine into the jail hidden in a body cavity, took the drugs, fell unconscious and died of an overdose at a hospital. Her death is listed as a suicide.

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A legal challenge aimed at reclassifying marijuana in Iowa was shot down Wednesday by the state's appeals court, though the issue will be taken up again in a separate case that also seeks new guidance on the drug's use under state law.

The Iowa Court of Appeals said the Iowa Board of Pharmacy had proper authority to deny Carl Olsen's request in 2013 to reclassify marijuana as a controlled substance that has medical use.

The decision comes after the Iowa Legislature failed to pass legislation this session that would update the state's 2014 law on medical marijuana, which allows possession of cannabis oil. The court case is considered separate, though the legality of the drug under its current classification is tied to the debate over its accessibility to medical patients in Iowa.

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Editor's note: This editorial is a part of our drug issue.

Iowa, though it may not look like it, is predominantly an industrial wasteland. The state, according to the Natural History Museum at the University of Iowa, is nearly 99 percent terraformed; few pockets of untouched earth remain. According to Iowa State University, approximately 85 percent of this land alteration has been implemented throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries for industrial agriculture, specifically row crops such as soybeans and corn.

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I completely agree with The Gazette's April 8 editorial "Don't delay expansion of medical cannabis" favoring the legalization of medical cannabis.

As well as lessening the pains and suffering from cancers and epileptic seizures, I'm betting it will be found to also help with the discomfort of other diseases like Crohn's and IBS (which I have).

I'd gladly be a volunteer to see if that's true if it would be legalized. Also, being what's commonly called a "recovering" alcoholic, I know alcohol gives temporary relief but also causes damage to the brain, liver and kidneys. I doubt cannabis oil, being from a natural plant, would cause any such damage.

Tom Matthes

Marion

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We applaud Gov. Terry Branstad for being open to the issue of medical cannabis [Branstad mulls medical cannabis expansion, April 5]. Over the past three years, thousands of Iowans have asked their lawmakers to pass this meaningful legislation to either get relief from a debilitating medical condition themselves or for a loved one. More than 90 of the state's most influential business leaders have signed a letter urging the Legislature to act. More than 4 of 5 Iowans support the passage of this legislation. And hundreds of local government leaders have lent their support to the cause. It is time for the Legislature to act.

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Dear Editor:

Another reason to allow sick citizens to use cannabis (marijuana / kaneh bosm) that doesn't get mentioned (letter: Mumbo Jumbo Blocking Medical Marijuana in Iowa, Feb. 29, 2016 Pilot-Tribune) is because it is Biblically correct since God indicates He created all the seed bearing plants saying they are all good on literally the very first page.

Many people know of cannabis as the tree of life and the very last page says the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations. Whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

A sane or moral argument to cage sick citizens for using cannabis doesn't exist.

Stan White

Dillon, Colo

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I support medicinal marijuana as well as recreational marijuana, and have for years, one of which has been LEGAL in Illinois for two years.

Just last month, the dispensary in Milan opened! I qualify for medicinal marijuana, according to the standards set up, and when I put that request to my doctors, and I have a cadre of them, they all ignored me.

Later, I heard that Quad-Cities doctors, at least on the Illinois side, have gotten together and DECIDED they would not write prescriptions for pot! This from a group that writes prescriptions for opioid painkillers. How has that worked out?

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Over the last two years I have learned a whole lot more than I ever expected or wanted to know about medical cannabis. I became involved in advocacy for this issue when I learned about the mothers of kids with epilepsy who were down at the statehouse every day talking to our representatives on behalf of their sick babies and children many of whom have up to 100 seizures a day. That was in 2014. The result of their blood, sweat and tears that year was a puny bill signed into totally ineffective and worthless law by Gov. Terry Branstad.

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Some of Iowa's most influential business leaders are urging state legislators to pass a bill that would expand the state's medical cannabis laws.

"Now is the time to help suffering Iowans and their families get legal access to this medicine, and we hereby call on Iowa lawmakers to debate and pass Comprehensive Medical Cannabis legislation this session," a letter signed by more than 90 business leaders and sent to lawmakers reads.

Meredith Corp. CEO Steve Lacy, Principal Financial Group CEO Dan Houston, Bankers Trust CEO Suku Radia, Knapp Properties CEO Gerry Neugent, local real estate developer Bill Knapp and BelinMcCormick attorney Steve Zumbach are among the influential names attached to it.

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Imagine having a child with a diagnosis so rare that genetic researchers in three states ask your family to participate in medical research because they are officially learning from your child. Imagine having a child with neurological storms that no one caught until permanent brain damage had already been done. Imagine having a child so sick that the doctors you trusted come to your child's hospital bed and tell you that they don't know how to help you and have to send you elsewhere for help. Imagine being pulled into a private room and being encouraged to try cannabidiol. Imagine being so desperate to help your child and worrying if doing what is best for your child will make you a "criminal."

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The Iowa Legislature finally took action on medical cannabis this week, an issue which has had mothers literally crying down at the Capitol for years. But instead of granting relief to desperate patients of chronic illnesses, our leaders are demonstrating once again they're quite capable of ignoring the pain and suffering of the citizens they are elected to serve.

Patient after patient testified before a House panel this week, choking out emotional pleas for relief as tears streamed down their faces. Many more crowded into the packed chambers, anxiously waiting for politicians to act. The heart-churning stories of pain and suffering could have lasted all afternoon, but the politicians budgeted less than an hour.

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Since the stunning findings of the Shaffer Commission and Nixon's following attempts to disguise the truth from the American people, more than 16.5 million people have been arrested for crimes related to cannabis. Yet, more than 80 percent of those arrested were charged with minor misdemeanors related to the plant, costing tax payers in excess of $20 billion a year.

The number arrested and the finical burden on American tax payers has done nothing to curb drug use in the United States. Furthermore, the legality of marijuana in several states has brought the reality of this failed drug policy to the attention of the American people.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A federal judge ruled Friday that Iowa State University administrators violated the constitutional free speech rights of student members of a pro-marijuana group by barring them from using the university logos on T-shirts.

U.S. District Judge James Gritzner issued an order granting members of the ISU chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws a permanent injunction which means university administrators cannot use a trademark policy to prevent the organization from printing shirts depicting a marijuana leaf.

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Sen. Chuck Grassley is no fan of legalizing marijuana. He has criticized the Obama administration for not enforcing federal drug laws and opposed reclassifying marijuana, which could make it easier to use as a medicine. The Republican senator has repeatedly said studies suggest the drug may cause long-term brain damage in young people.

But Grassley acknowledges an extract of the plant may help people with severe epilepsy and other illnesses. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the Caucus on International Narcotics Control, he has been among the lawmakers pushing federal agencies to remove barriers to research exploring the risks and benefits of cannabidiol. Last week he announced that the Drug Enforcement Agency agreed to ease regulatory requirements for those conducting government-approved clinical trials.

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As we read the front-page story Monday about some parents who are thinking of moving to Minnesota to get medical marijuana for their children, it left us with a sickening feeling.

Not as sick as the kids they want to help, but angry and deeply disappointed that our legislators, mainly House Republicans, can't see what lawmakers in our neighbor to the north could - that medical marijuana can help better than prescription medicines.

The story, by Christinia Crippes of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, a sister paper of the Globe Gazette, told of Cedar Falls parents considering moving to Minnesota where medical marijuana will be legal in limited form beginning July 1.

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Medical-marijuana advocates expressed frustration and exhaustion Wednesday, as the Legislature prepares to leave for the year without acting on the issue.

The activists held a Statehouse news conference to criticize Republican leaders of the Iowa House, who have not brought the proposal up for a debate.

"They didn't want to visit this issue. They don't really care about suffering Iowans, and it's really unfortunate," activist Sally Gaer of West Des Moines said. "...It boggles my mind that there's no compassion. They say they have compassion, but their actions don't show that they have compassion."

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If you live in Iowa, a doctor can write you prescriptions to treat numerous ailments. If you move to any other state, the same medications will be available. That is how things work in a country where the federal government, not state government, approves and regulates drugs.

Then there is marijuana. Whether you can obtain that to treat a health problem depends on where you live.

Many states have legalized marijuana or its derivatives for people seeking to treat symptoms caused by serious illnesses, including cancer. In Colorado, those aged 21 and older can buy it for personal use. Last year Iowa law was changed to allow only people with severe epilepsy to possess cannabidiol, an extract of the drug. Now some state lawmakers want to expand access to other sick Iowans.

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Measure inspired by Cedar Rapids couple, local ordinance

CEDAR RAPIDS - The city's action against the sale of synthetic drugs - which tackled the substances from a consumer fraud-and-protection approach rather than trying to keep pace with their ever-changing chemical make up - came just too late for Jerrald Meek.

After struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and a two-year addiction to synthetic marijuana, the Army veteran took his life in his parent's Cedar Rapids home, on Aug. 26, 2014.

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LAKE PARK, Iowa - Over a year ago on New Year's Day, Jeri Goodell was caring for her grandson, Garrett, when the toddler started gagging.

Soon his face turned blue.

Goodell, a registered nurse, was terrified. She called 911.

Garrett, now 3, was born with a congenital heart defect and a genetic condition that causes bones in his skull to fuse together. It took nearly a year for doctors at three different hospitals to also diagnose Garrett with intractable epilepsy, seizures that can't be controlled well or at all with medication.

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