The number of patients in Iowa’s medical marijuana program fell by one-third during the COVID-19 pandemic because patients couldn’t see their doctors or go to driver’s license centers to get cannabidiol registration cards, officials said.

Iowa averaged about 360 patients per month in its medical marijuana program between June 2019 and March, when Gov. Kim Reynolds asked Iowans to stay home to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, Owen Parker, program manager told the Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Board Friday.

Patient numbers averaged 244 per month for April, May and June so far, he said.

The governor has signed a bill into law that makes it clear “smoke-able” hemp is illegal in Iowa and hemp cannot be fed to animals.

The legislation is an update to a 2019 law that legalized the growing of industrial hemp in Iowa. Representative Ross Paustian, a Republican from Walcott, said the State of Iowa is still awaiting USDA approval before Iowa farmers can start growing hemp.

“This bill helps us to comply with some federal requirements,” Paustian said. “The bill also allows for the manufacture, sale and transportation of hemp products if they contain no more than 0.3% of THC.”

Representative Bob Kressig, a Democrat from Cedar Falls, said even though some of the requirements for growing hemp are pretty strict, the bill sets Iowa in the right direction.

Medical cannabidiol patients in Iowa now have only one company’s products to choose from as the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic forces the state’s only other licensed CBD manufacturer to shutter its operations.

At the end of March, Have A Heart Compassionate Care announced that it was closing the medical CBD dispensaries it operated in Council Bluffs and Davenport. That was followed by an announcement in early April from New York-based Acreage Holdings that it was temporarily closing several cannabis facilities including its Iowa Relief wholesale plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Kevin Murphy, the chairman and CEO of Acreage, said in a press release at the time that the measures were being taken due to the coronavirus crisis.

Iowa lawmakers passed a bill this week to tweak the state’s medical marijuana program, and now the measure now awaits the governor’s signature.

It’s now legal to grow hemp in Iowa. What to do with the crop remains an open question.

“I’ve gotten phone calls and inquiries about potentially growing hemp,” Rebecca Vittetoe, Iowa State University Extension field agronomist based in Washington, Iowa, wrote in an email. “However, the biggest drawback or hang-up right now is the lack of markets. If we grow it, what do we do with it?”

“It’s nothing like a year ago,” said Angie Rieck-Hinz, an Extension field specialist in charge of its hemp production program. “In January and February of 2019 my phone was ringing off the hook. Right now I couldn’t tell you when I’ve last had a hemp phone call.”

Medical marijuana dispensaries have closed in Council Bluffs and Davenport, Iowa health officials said.

The disclosure Monday by the Iowa Public Health Department said patients and caregivers still may purchase the cannabidiol products at Iowa’s three other licensed outlets, in Sioux City, Waterloo and in the Des Moines suburb of Windsor Heights.

It’s not clear why the two dispensaries were closed. Their operators, Have A Heart Compassionate Care, didn’t immediately return messages Wednesday from The Associated Press.

Iowa is good to go with the feds after the USDA recently approved its state plan under the USA’s domestic hemp production program.

“We know farmers are eager for new opportunities and this milestone means they are one step closer to being able to grow hemp during the 2020 growing season,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig recently.

The plan was approved on the 20th of this month, but farmers keen to get cracking will need to wait a while longer before applying for licences.

A new poll shows that the Hawkeye State is ready to embrace legalization.

The poll from the Des Moines Register and Mediacom found that 53 percent of Iowans support legalizing marijuana for recreational use. According to the Des Moines Register, it marks the first time that the survey, conducted by the pollster Selzer & Co, shows a majority in favor of legalization for recreational use. Selzer & Co. has testing the question since February 2013.

The Iowa House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday that would add more qualifying medical conditions to the state’s medical marijuana program and change the cap on THC for patients. The bill, House File 2589, was passed by a vote of 52 to 46.

Under the bill, post-traumatic stress disorder and “severe, intractable autism with self-injurious or aggressive behaviors” would be added to the state’s list of medical conditions that qualify a patient to use medical marijuana. The measure also changes “untreatable” pain to “chronic” pain on the list.