Many bills in the Iowa House and Senate did not make it past adjournment of the 2016 Legislative Session.

The chief among those was legislation that would have effectively expanded medical marijuana use by allowing cannabis oil production in the state. Representative Guy Vander Linden said many in the House supported a provision allowing those allowed to use cannabis oil to purchase supplies from Minnesota, but the measure failed.

“If the goal is to get medical marijuana to those who desperately need it, to me, that proposal was the most expeditious way to get it,” he says.

There is also a section of Republicans that oppose medical marijuana on principle, Vander Linden adds, so not enough votes could be gathered to get past the differences.

Representative Vander Linden anticipates additional legislative proposals related to medicinal cannabis use following this year’s November election.