A CBD company has organized medical marijuana patients in Iowa to improve the state’s medical marijuana program.

Serious questions linger about the fate of medical marijuana in Iowa as Republican lawmakers find themselves considering an eleventh-hour deal that would expand the program to more patients.

The state's sole manufacturer of medical cannabis oil worries that, once sales begin in about seven months, many patients will realize treatment would be unaffordable, impractical or unobtainable due to restrictions placed on the fledgling industry. The lack of a robust market, in turn, would jeopardize access for those who still could benefit.

"We've provided some false hope," said Sen. Joe Bolkcom, an Iowa City Democrat who has backed efforts to expand access to medical marijuana. "There are thousands of Iowans counting on us to deliver."

According to local media, Iowa lawmakers may eliminate THC caps for medical cannabis oil.

The state only allows low-THC cannabis oils and has just one licensed producer — a combination that has caused supply problems for medical marijuana patients in other states.

This week, the Iowa Department of Public Health announced that it has granted the state's first-ever medical cannabis dispensary licenses.

Health department officials received a total of 21 dispensary applications by the deadline of March 9th, and have approved five of them so far, while denying another six.

Iowa plans to dip its toe into the world of legal medical marijuana sales in December, but anyone who’s expecting the state to become a pot-smoker’s paradise is a little hazy on the details.

Here’s what is really expected to happen:

Participation will be sharply restricted

To buy the products, Iowans will need a permit from the Iowa Department of Public Health. Fewer than 400 of Iowa’s 3 million residents now have one. Even medical marijuana proponents are only hoping to see 12,000 approved participants in the first two years. That’s less than one-half of 1 percent of Iowa’s population.

Iowans overwhelmingly support legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, but they don't support allowing recreational uses, an Iowa Poll from 2017 shows. Wochit

Iowa plans to launch a limited medical-marijuana program in late 2018.(Photo: Mark Marturello/The Register)Buy Photo

Iowa’s fledgling medical-marijuana program has drawn interest from 22 potential cannabis shop owners, including people already involved in the business in other states. 

A proposal in the Iowa Legislature to lessen penalties for people who possess small amounts of marijuana for the first time would save the state money and reduce the disproportionate number of African-Americans in its criminal justice system, yet its chances of advancing this session are unclear.

The bill would make first offense possession of marijuana that’s 5 grams or less a simple misdemeanor instead of a serious misdemeanor, reducing jail time and court fees for those convicted of the charge.

“This would be a step in the right direction in addressing one of the very big racial disparity problems in Iowa,” said Daniel Zeno with the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa.

Iowans who want to buy cannabis oil to treat a range of ailments don’t have to wait a year for state officials to set up a tightly regulated distribution system – because versions of the products already are for sale on store shelves.

State and federal officials say the oils, known as cannabidiol or CBD, are marijuana products that shouldn’t be sold in unregulated stores. “It’s illegal,” said Andrew Funk, executive director of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy. Police in two towns have recently seized products from store shelves.

We've previously told you about the 

Late this summer, a former Miss Iowa and rapper The Game did what models and hip-hop stars apparently do these days: They launched a new cryptocurrency they hope will one day be used to buy and sell all things cannabis.

On Sept. 15, the founders of ParagonCoin—Jessica Versteeg, who was Miss Iowa in 2014, and her husband, Russian millionaire Egor Lavrov—began offering $100 million worth of ParagonCoins at $1 apiece. Even before the ICO (initial coin offering, when a cryptocurrency is first put up for sale) the company had raised a cool $25 million from investors.