In 2014 the Iowa Legislature passed a bill allowing patients with intractable epilepsy to possess cannabis oil. This bill was a good first step, but this law will expire in June 2017 and has helped fewer than 100 individuals. Having a law that helps only 1 percent of the population it was intended for is a strong indication that the law is broken and needs fixed.

Ever wonder how your state stands up to the others in terms of marijuana tolerance? We don't mean how much your state can smoke, but how tolerant the locals are toward cannabis. The real-estate website Estately has the answer. 

Using specialized metrics, they put together rankings for all 50 states in their "Marijuana Enthusiasm Index." The criteria are: the percentage of monthly marijuana users, the average price of cannabis, the average number of marijuana-related Google searches, the legal status of marijuana and expressions of public interest (based on Facebook user data). 

Here are five interesting findings.

Abandoning good science has unintended consequences for Iowa's youth

Iowans may be deceived by the controversy surrounding claims of marijuana's miracle cures. This is not about possible medicines for children. The deception is that Iowa must rush to market without heed to the overwhelming advice of medical professionals warning that we should not bypass the Food and Drug Administration and good science in developing medicines.

Cannabidiol is not marijuana, and the difference is huge. CBD is one out of more than 100 compounds that can be derived from marijuana, including the dangerous psychoactive drug tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

More than three-quarters of Iowans now favor allowing people to use marijuana as medicine, but most remain opposed to legalizing it for recreation, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows.

Iowans have steadily become more comfortable with the use of medical marijuana, which now is supported by 78 percent of the state’s adults, according to the  Iowa Poll. That is up from 58 percent in 2013.

But most Iowans continue to oppose allowing people to smoke or eat marijuana for recreational purposes. Just 34 percent of adults favor that idea, up 5 percentage points from 2013, the poll shows.

The poll’s results come as state legislators consider expanding Iowa’s tiny medical-marijuana program.

Some of Iowa's most influential business leaders are urging state legislators to pass a bill that would expand the state's medical cannabis laws.

"Now is the time to help suffering Iowans and their families get legal access to this medicine, and we hereby call on Iowa lawmakers to debate and pass Comprehensive Medical Cannabis legislation this session," a letter signed by more than 90 business leaders and sent to lawmakers reads.

Meredith Corp. CEO Steve Lacy, Principal Financial Group CEO Dan Houston, Bankers Trust CEO Suku Radia, Knapp Properties CEO Gerry Neugent, local real estate developer Bill Knapp and BelinMcCormick attorney Steve Zumbach are among the influential names attached to it.

Sadly, we’ve seen this one before. 

Iowans suffering from chronic, painful medical conditions, their families and friends troop to the Statehouse to urge state lawmakers to give them legal access to medical cannabis. Lawmakers listen, express deep sympathy and then move ahead at a glacial pace with woefully inadequate legislation. 

It’s really the best they can do, they insist.

Iowa State University administrators are appealing a federal judge's ruling that they violated the free speech rights of student members of a pro-marijuana group by barring them from using the university logos on T-shirts.

Attorneys for ISU President Steven Leath, Senior Vice President Warren Madden and two other administrators notified the court Wednesday of their appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

U.S. District Judge James Gritzner had issued an order on Jan. 22 granting members of the ISU chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws a permanent injunction blocking university administrators from using a trademark policy to prevent the group from printing shirts depicting the school mascot and a marijuana leaf.

Iowa State University administrators are appealing a federal judge's ruling that they violated the free speech rights of student members of a pro-marijuana group by barring them from using the university logos on T-shirts.

Attorneys for ISU President Steven Leath, Senior Vice President Warren Madden and two other administrators notified the court Wednesday of their appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

U.S. District Judge James Gritzner had issued an order on Jan. 22 granting members of the ISU chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws a permanent injunction blocking university administrators from using a trademark policy to prevent the group from printing shirts depicting the school mascot and a marijuana leaf.

The House Commerce Subcommittee will review H.S.B. 607, Tuesday at 8:00 a.m.

Thanks to legislation, passed in 2014, cannabis oil is technically legal to use in Iowa for help with chronic epilepsy. But, lawmakers neglected to go further.

It’s illegal to sell cannabis oil in the state or bring it in from other states.

“You can't do anything," said Iowa House Rep. Bobby Kaufmann (R-Wilton). "Really, the bill we passed a couple years ago isn't being effective."

Kaufmann worked with House Commerce Committee Chair Peter Cownie to create H.S.B. 607, which Cownie announced last week.