Two bipartisan members of Congress say they are “deeply troubled” with the “unacceptable” lack of progress in implementing a law signed by President Joe Biden that’s meant to streamline marijuana research.
In a letter sent to the heads of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Tuesday, Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Andy Harris (R-MD) demanded answers about how cannabis research is being facilitated under the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act that Biden signed into law in December 2022.
The congressmen, who hold diametrically opposing views on broader cannabis policy issues, said the legislation they sponsored represented a “historic breakthrough in addressing the federal government’s misguided restriction of research on the impacts of cannabis,” yet HHS and DEA have not effectively implemented it so far “in line with congressional intent.”
“At a time when more than half of Americans reside in a place where adult-use of cannabis is legal at the state or local level, and there are four million registered medical marijuana users with many more likely to self-medicate, it is essential that we are able to fully study the impacts of cannabis use,” they said. “The American public deserves to know the effect modern marijuana has on the human body.”
The lawmakers said that more than 150 research applications for cannabis studies are pending decisions by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under HHS, while “many more researchers are excluded” due to DEA’s onerous licensing requirements that have “not been adequately updated.”
What’s more, HHS is more than three months past a deadline to submit a report to Congress that outlines federal marijuana research barriers, they said.
“Continued research barriers signal ineffective implementation of the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act,” the congressmen said, listing a series of questions they want HHS and DEA to answer.
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