An eastern Iowa woman wants to be able to sell cannabis oil in her shop and is lobbying for looser restrictions.
On Wednesday the State Board of Health took a step toward allowing medical cannabis oil for treating people with chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease, and other conditions that doctors validate.
The soonest people might be able to access the oil from dispensaries is in December.
Kymm Loeffler went to Des Moines Wednesday to push for faster access to not just cannabis oil, known as CBD, but for all medical marijuana.
The oil that Iowa allows for prescription use must have less then 3 percent THC, which is the ingredient that gets people high.
“When there is THC involved it is illegal. Everything that we carry here is zero percent. THC is from industrial hemp, therefore making it legal in all 50 states,” Loeffler said.
Loeffler says the state needs to clear up the gray area with these products.
Another store like hers in Muscatine had $5,000 of CBD inventory seized. The Muscatine County Attorney had the oil sent to a lab.
“That testing comes back identifying it as containing marijuana. So that’s what I have to go on with that lab analysis,” Muscatine County Attorney Alan Ostergren said.
In that case the store owner didn’t face charges, but authorities kept the inventory.
“People aren’t educated. They think that C-B-D oil does contain THC,” Loeffler said.
Loeffler says her product is from hemp, a variety of cannabis plant used for industrial purposes and in a variety of products. It’s more than just part of her business’s success, she believes what she’s selling eases the symptoms of many diseases without making users high.
“We want to get out there the education dispel the myth that it’s not about getting high it’s not about getting stoned it’s about a better quality of life for people,” Loeffler said.
Loeffler eventually wants to become a dispensary when the state starts giving out permits.
