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Iowa business leaders urge backing of medical marijuana bill

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March 1st, 2016 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Influential Iowa business leaders are urging state legislators to pass a bill that would expand the state’s medical marijuana laws. The Des Moines Register reports that more than 90 business leaders sent lawmakers a letter, asking them to debate and pass comprehensive medical cannabis legislation.

The legislation would grant the state authority to establish two growing facilities and distribute medical cannabis oil to people who suffer from cancer, intractable epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. The signers span several industries, including banking, insurance, publishing and real estate.

It’s been legal for Iowa residents with epilepsy to use cannabis oil since 2014, but proponents argue that the change was useless in practice because of a separate state law that makes it illegal to manufacture or distribute