The Iowa Capital Dispatch
The Iowa Senate sent Gov. Kim Reynolds a bill Tuesday that tightens Iowa’s laws and regulations on consumable hemp products as the products become more widely available.
Senators also passed a bill doubling the maximum number of licenses available for medical cannabis dispensaries.
House File 2605, passed on a 31-18 vote, would put a limit of 4 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per serving in consumable hemp products, as well as a 10 mg limit per container — in addition to requiring warning labels on such products. The bill would also impose an age limit of 21, as well as add new restrictions and penalties related to the possession, sale and manufacturing of hemp products.
Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, the bill’s floor manager, said updating the Iowa Hemp Act is necessary not only to regulate the growing industry but also to ensure that people are not misusing hemp products as a substitute for the state’s medical cannabidiol program.
“The medical cannabidiol program actually puts an individual with a doctor to get these products, that’s the biggest distinction,” Dawson said. “The Iowa hemp program has none of those barriers there. So if we want to protect Iowans with these products … there has to be some type of guardrails on here, to make sure that the medical cannabidiol program is the program that we can direct Iowans to when they have one of these diagnosed conditions.”
Although Democratic senators voted against the bill, none spoke in opposition to the legislation during floor debate. During House debate last month, Rep. John Forbes, D-Urbandale said he was concerned about “unintended consequences” of the bill’s limitations on hemp products for people who use them for medical purposes outside of the medical cannabidiol program, like those who use products containing CBD or THC while recovering from opioid addictions.
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Bill restricting consumable hemp products heads to governor’s desk
