Iowa adds chronic pain for medical cannabis; sales boost expected

What’s the right revenue per square foot? What’s a realistic business outlook for cultivators? Get realistic market forecasts, state-by-state insights and benchmarks. Get the 2023 Factbook.


An Iowa state board added chronic pain as a qualifying condition to use medical marijuana, a development that should increase sales in the state’s heavily regulated market.

Chronic pain generally tends to lead sales for medical conditions in many states.

While approving chronic pain, the Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Board rejected anxiety disorder and opioid dependence as qualifying conditions and put off a decision on post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Des Moines Register.

The board’s recent meeting was the first since Gov. Kim Reynolds’ May veto of an expansion of the medical marijuana program that would have increased THC potency allowances.

Qualifying conditions already allowed in Iowa include seizures, Crohn’s disease, AIDS, Lou Gehrig’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

– Associated Press and Marijuana Business Daily