Marijuana research bill headed to Biden’s desk

The Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act passed the Senate today and is headed to Biden’s desk.

The legislation will encourage research on marijuana and its potential benefits by streamlining the application process for researchers and removing FDA barriers according to Congressman Blumenauer.

The bill will require that the U.S. attorney general will be given a 60-day deadline to either approve a given application or request supplemental information from a marijuana research applicant. The bill also creates an efficient pathway compared to current routes for researchers requesting larger quantities of cannabis.

“Research is a foundational element for cannabis policy,” said Congressman Blumenauer, Founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus back in July when the bill passed the House. “At a time when there are four million registered medical marijuana patients and many more likely to self-medicate, it is crucial that researchers are able to fully study the health benefits of cannabis. For too long, the federal government has stood in the way of science and progress, creating barriers for researchers obtaining resources and approval to study cannabis. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation is an important first step to changing that.”

A big takeaway about the the bill is that it features language stating that it “shall not be a violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) for a State-licensed physician to discuss the currently known potential harms and benefits of marijuana derivatives, including cannabidiol, as a treatment with the legal guardian of the patient of the physician if the patient is a child… or a legal adult.”

The bill requires that not later than 1 year after the date of enactment the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Director of the National Institutes of Health and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall submit a report to various agencies on multiple aspects to include:

1.  the potential therapeutic effects of cannabidiol or marijuana on serious medical conditions, including intractable epilepsy;
2. the potential effects of marijuana, including—
   • the effect of increasing delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol levels on the human body and developing adolescent brains; and
   • the effect of various delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol levels on cognitive abilities, such as those that are required to operate motor vehicles or other heavy equipment; and
3. the barriers associated with researching marijuana or cannabidiol in States that have legalized the use of such substances, which shall include—
   • (A) recommendations as to how such barriers might be overcome, including whether public-private partnerships or Federal-State research partnerships may or should be implemented to provide researchers with access to additional strains of marijuana and cannabidiol; and
   • (B) recommendations as to what safeguards must be in place to verify—
     • the levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, or other cannabinoids contained in products obtained from such States is accurate; and
     • that such products do not contain harmful or toxic components.

This bill could be a big move for Texas and the Compassionate Use Program. The state of Texas has been notorious for putting down that it will likely become more involved with marijuana as federal laws are relaxed. Given the nature of this federal bill and previous legislation in the Texas legislature, this session may see Texas hand cannabis research over to DSHS completely and possibly see caps removed on THC limits.

The bill will give authority for the the state to work with medical and research institutions such as universities to explore a wide range of medical applications. In a similar same way that the state currently has to coordinate it’s hemp regulations with the federal government, Texas will be given the availability to do this with medical cannabis.

The long time argument of needing more research has finally been given an answer in a federal bill to do exactly that. It may be possible after this next legislative session that advocates may claim that if the claims of “the research isn’t there” in Texas, it’s because the state legislature and leadership have held it back.

The bill is headed to President Joe Biden’s desk and given his previous stance of wanting research, advocates can be hopeful that he signs it soon.