Is Weed Legal in Iowa? (2026)

Instrument

Medical cannabidiol affirmative defense, THC amount cap, smoking bar; marijuana possession penalty

Source

https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/124E.pdf

Retrieved

2026-11-07

Fingerprint

80c771e427d05de8

124E.12 Use of medical cannabidiol — affirmative defenses.
1. A health care practitioner, including any authorized agent or employee thereof, shall
not be subject to prosecution for the unlawful certification, possession, or administration of
marijuana under the laws of this state for activities arising directly out of or directly related
to the certification or use of medical cannabidiol in the treatment of a patient diagnosed with
a debilitating medical condition as authorized by this chapter.
2. A medical cannabidiol manufacturer, including any authorized agent or employee
thereof, shall not be subject to prosecution for manufacturing, possessing, cultivating,
harvesting, transporting, packaging, processing, or supplying medical cannabidiol pursuant
to this chapter.
3. A medical cannabidiol dispensary, including any authorized agent or employee
thereof, shall not be subject to prosecution for dispensing medical cannabidiol pursuant to
this chapter.
4. a. In a prosecution for the unlawful possession of marijuana under the laws of this
state for the possession of medical cannabidiol, including but not limited to chapters 124
and 453B, it is an affirmative and complete defense to the prosecution that the patient has
been diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition, used or possessed medical cannabidiol
pursuant to a certification by a health care practitioner as authorized under this chapter, and,
for a patient eighteen years of age or older, is in possession of a valid medical cannabidiol
registration card issued pursuant to this chapter.
b. In a prosecution for the unlawful possession of marijuana under the laws of this
state for the possession of medical cannabidiol, including but not limited to chapters 124
and 453B, it is an affirmative and complete defense to the prosecution that the person
possessed medical cannabidiol because the person is a primary caregiver of a patient who
has been diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition and is in possession of a valid
medical cannabidiol registration card issued pursuant to this chapter, and where the primary
caregiver's possession of the medical cannabidiol is on behalf of the patient and for the
patient's use only as authorized under this chapter.
c. If a patient or primary caregiver is charged with the unlawful possession of marijuana
under the laws of this state for the possession of medical cannabidiol, including but not
limited to chapters 124 and 453B, and is not in possession of the person’s medical cannabidiol
registration card, any charge or charges filed against the person for the possession of medical
cannabidiol shall be dismissed by the court if the person produces to the court prior to or at
the person’s trial a medical cannabidiol registration card issued to that person and valid at
the time the person was charged.
5. An agency of this state or a political subdivision thereof, including any law enforcement
agency, shall not remove or initiate proceedings to remove a patient under the age of eighteen
from the home of a parent based solely upon the parent’s or patient's possession or use of
medical cannabidiol as authorized under this chapter.
6. The department and any health care practitioner, including any authorized agent
or employee thereof, are not subject to any civil or disciplinary penalties by the board of
medicine or any business, occupational, or professional licensing board or entity, solely
for activities conducted relating to a patient's possession or use of medical cannabidiol as
authorized under this chapter. Nothing in this section affects a professional licensing board
from taking action in response to violations of any other section of law.
7. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the department, the governor, or any
employee of any state agency shall not be held civilly or criminally liable for any injury, loss
of property, personal injury, or death caused by any act or omission while acting within the
scope of office or employment as authorized under this chapter.
8. An attorney shall not be subject to disciplinary action by the Iowa supreme court or
attorney disciplinary board for providing legal assistance to a patient, primary caregiver, or
others based upon a patient's or primary caregiver's possession or use of medical cannabidiol
as authorized under this chapter.
9. Possession of a medical cannabidiol registration card or an application for a medical
cannabidiol registration card by a person entitled to possess or apply for a medical
cannabidiol registration card shall not constitute probable cause or reasonable suspicion,
and shall not be used to support a search of the person or property of the person possessing
or applying for the medical cannabidiol registration card, or otherwise subject the person or
property of the person to inspection by any governmental agency.
2017 Acts, ch 162, §15, 25; 2020 Acts, ch 1116, §23; 2021 Acts, ch 80, §63

124E.9 Medical cannabidiol dispensaries.
14. A medical cannabidiol dispensary shall not dispense more than a combined total of
four and one-half grams of total tetrahydrocannabinol to a patient and the patient's primary
caregiver in a ninety-day period, except as provided in subsection 15.
15. A medical cannabidiol dispensary may dispense more than a combined total of four
and one-half grams of total tetrahydrocannabinol to a patient and the patient's primary
caregiver in a ninety-day period if any of the following apply:
a. The health care practitioner who certified the patient to receive a medical cannabidiol
registration card certifies that patient's debilitating medical condition is a terminal illness
with a life expectancy of less than one year. A certification issued pursuant to this paragraph
shall include a total tetrahydrocannabinol cap deemed appropriate by the patient's health
care practitioner.
b. The health care practitioner who certified the patient to receive a medical cannabidiol
registration card certifies that the patient has participated in the medical cannabidiol program
and that the health care practitioner has determined that four and one-half grams of total
tetrahydrocannabinol in a ninety-day period is insufficient to treat the patient's debilitating
medical condition. A certification issued pursuant to this paragraph shall include a total
tetrahydrocannabinol cap deemed appropriate by the patient's health care practitioner.
2017 Acts, ch 162, §12, 25; 2018 Acts, ch 1165, §123, 126; 2020 Acts, ch 1116, §20; 2020
Acts, ch 1121, §62, 70

124E.17 Use of medical cannabidiol — smoking prohibited.
A patient shall not consume medical cannabidiol possessed or used as authorized under
this chapter by smoking medical cannabidiol.
2017 Acts, ch 162, §20, 25

124.401 Prohibited acts — manufacture, delivery, possession — counterfeit substances,
simulated controlled substances, imitation controlled substances — penalties.
5. a. It is unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess a controlled
substance unless such substance was obtained directly from, or pursuant to, a valid
prescription or order of a practitioner while acting in the course of the practitioner’s
professional practice, or except as otherwise authorized by this chapter. Any person who
violates this subsection is guilty of a serious misdemeanor for a first offense. A person who
commits a violation of this subsection and who has previously been convicted of violating
this chapter or chapter 124B or 453B, or chapter 124A as it existed prior to July 1, 2017, is
guilty of an aggravated misdemeanor. A person who commits a violation of this subsection
and has previously been convicted two or more times of violating this chapter or chapter
124B or 453B, or chapter 124A as it existed prior to July 1, 2017, is guilty of a class “D” felony.
b. If the controlled substance is marijuana, the punishment shall be by imprisonment in
the county jail for not more than six months or by a fine of not more than one thousand
dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment for a first offense. If the controlled substance
is marijuana and the person has been previously convicted of a violation of this subsection in
which the controlled substance was marijuana, the punishment shall be as provided in section
903.1, subsection 1, paragraph "b". If the controlled substance is marijuana and the person
has been previously convicted two or more times of a violation of this subsection in which
the controlled substance was marijuana, the person is guilty of an aggravated misdemeanor.