RECOMMENDING CANNABIS IN IOWA
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The Iowa Medical Cannabis Program was established through the enactment of the Medical Cannabidiol Act in 2017. The Iowa Health and Human Services oversees the program. Patients and their caregivers must be registered with the program to benefit from the rights and protections granted under these statutes. |
Iowa licensed physicians (MD/DO), Physician Assistants (PAs), Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNPs), and Podiatrists (DPM) can certify patients.
The Healthcare Practitioner Certification Form must be included with all patient/caregiver applications.
- Cancer with severe or chronic pain
- Cancer with nausea or severe vomiting
- Cancer with cachexia or severe wasting
- Multiple Sclerosis with severe and persistent muscle spasms
- Seizures
- AIDS or HIV (as defined in Iowa Code, section 141A.1.)
- Crohn's disease
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Parkinson's disease
- Chronic Pain
- Severe, intractable autism with self-injurious or aggressive behaviors
- Corticobasal Degeneration
- PTSD
- Terminal illness with a probable life expectancy of under one year and severe or chronic pain
- Terminal illness with a probable life expectancy of under one year and nausea or severe vomiting
- Terminal illness with a probable life expectancy of under one year and cachexia or severe wasting
Before a patient submits an application for a medical cannabidiol registration card, a healthcare practitioner must do all of the following:
- Determine, to the best of your medical judgment, if the patient being treated suffers from a debilitating medical condition that qualifies for the use of medical cannabidiol. If so, you must provide the patient with a written certification of said diagnosis by completing the healthcare practitioner section of the application form.
- Must provide explanatory information to the patient about the therapeutic use of medical cannabidiol, the possible risks, benefits, and side effects.
- Determine, on an annual basis, if the patient continues to suffer from a debilitating medical condition. If so, issue the patient a new certification of said diagnosis.
- Comply with all requirements and requests from the department. A healthcare practitioner may provide a written certification under this rule, but has no duty to do so.
The Healthcare Practitioner Certification Form must be included with all patient/caregiver applications.
Patients must renew their certification every 12 months.
Medical professionals have a legal right to recommend cannabis as a treatment in any state, as protected by the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act (Title III section 301) which became law on December 2, 2022, and the First Amendment (established by a 2004 United States Supreme Court decision to uphold earlier federal court rulings that doctors, and their patients have a fundamental Constitutional right to freely discuss treatment options).
DOWNLOAD MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, MEDICAL CANNABIS & THE LAW
| State-by-state compassionate use programs are not the ultimate goal for medical cannabis patients; they are a means to aid patients in finding safe cannabis products until federal laws change. Americans for Safe Access is working to create a national program that would include prescriptions, standardized products, and a pathway to insurance coverage. Learn more about ASA Campaigns. |
*UPDATE: FEDERAL CANNABIS LAWS HAVE CHANGED AS OF APRIL 28, 2026: Learn more here.
More resources for medical professionals are available here.
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