As one of his final acts as Governor of Iowa, Terry Branstad has signed into law a bill regarding medical cannabis oil.

House File 524, which establishes a new Medical Cannabidiol Act, was one of the last bills passed through the Iowa Legislature before the end of the current session. The original legislation allowing cannabis oil to be legal for use in the state was scheduled to sunset this summer, so the legislature had to work on a replacement for it this year. According to State Representative Ralph Watts (R), in addition to making sure the previous bill didn’t expire, HF524 makes medicinal cannabis more widely available for different conditions that would benefit from the drug. He believes time will tell if the drug and legislation will work or not.

The bill also allows for the growing, manufacturing, and processing of cannabis oil in the state, but Watts says it’s under very strict conditions. “As time goes on, we may either have growers (and) processors in Iowa, or we may see a consortium of states in the upper midwest go together for the processing of the oil. What other states have found when they do the growing and processing, it’s extremely expensive.”

Watts is fairly certain the state will opt for the consortium route, joining Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and possibly Illinois. Cannabis oil is commonly used to medicate people who suffer from severe epilepsy.