Iowa House medical marijuana plan clears first Senate test

DES MOINES — A House-endorsed plan to make a few adjustments to Iowa’s medical marijuana law has cleared its first hurdle in the Iowa Senate.

Senator Rich Taylor, a Democrat from Mount Pleasant, said he’d like to do more, but it’s as far as the House seems willing to go.

“I really hate to muck it up with all of these good ideas and then have the House turn us down,” Taylor said. “We’ve got something that the House has agreed to 96-to-3.”

A key Republican on a Senate subcommittee wrote down many of the recommendations made at a public hearing Monday, but she, too, is reluctant to change the bill — and potentially make it unpalatable to the House.

In the past decade as Iowa legislators have debated legalizing use of marijuana for medical treatment, the Senate traditionally has pushed for a more expansive law than the House has been willing to accept. This latest bill will next be considered in a Senate committee this week.