Congress Passes CBD and Marijuana Research Expansion Act

Tens of millions of medical patients who could benefit from the new FDA-approved prescription-strength CBD received the tiniest break from Congress on Monday.

The U.S. House of Representatives tonight voted to pass the Cannabidiol and Marijuana Research Expansion Act, which would allow for the research and development of new drugs. The Senate unanimously approved the bill in March.

Physicians have reported for decades that the federal Schedule I status of marijuana — which designates it as a drug as dangerous as heroin — blocks basic drug trials. A generation of patients have attempted these experiments on themselves. (Ninety-two percent of medicinal cannabis users reported effectiveness in a 2014 government survey.)

Currently, 38 states have legalized cannabis for medical use or for all adults, but “marijuana” remains a Schedule I substance.

The new law — sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and eight other senators — does not change weed’s Schedule I status. But it forces the federal government to allow more researchers to grow medicinal cannabis, allows doctors to talk about weed without fear of losing their medical license, and other modest improvements.

About 91% of Americans support the legalization of medical marijuana, according to Pew Research. Yet the CBD Research Extension Act went to the vote, passed, and then died in 2020.

The House of Representatives also passed a sweeping legalization bill last week — the MORE Act.

About 68% of Americans support full legalization. But Senator Feinstein — a longtime Democrat who represents the world’s largest legal cannabis market, which generated $5.1 billion in legal sales last year — is focused on further research, not federal legalization.

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“Current rules and regulations make it difficult for researchers to study how best to use marijuana and marijuana-derived drugs to treat various medical conditions,” Sen. Feinstein said in a press release. “This important legislation will reduce the red tape surrounding the research process and help bring FDA-approved marijuana-derived drugs safely to patients.”

Policy experts note that marijuana has been studied for decades and has demonstrated medicinal efficacy, with a lower abuse profile than prescription drugs. Yet Republican Senator Grassley hailed the opportunity for more such research in a publication.

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Congress just legalized marijuana through the MORE Act — again.

“This bipartisan bill is critical to a better understanding of the marijuana plant and its potential benefits and side effects,” Grassley said in a statement. “It will enable the FDA to safely and responsibly analyze CBD and medical marijuana products so the American public can make sound scientific data-based decisions about whether to use them in the future.” Research into marijuana has broad support from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and it’s a smart step forward in tackling this current Schedule I drug.”

David Downs

David Downs leads news and lifestyle coverage as California Bureau Chief for Leafly.com. He has written for WIRED, Rolling Stone and Billboard and is a former cannabis editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of several cannabis books including Ed Rosenthal’s and David Downs’ Marijuana Harvest. He is the co-host of the Hash podcast. TW: @davidrdowns | IG @daviddowns

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