House of Representatives passes bill to expand cannabis research

The House of Representatives on Monday passed legislation that would expand access to medical cannabis research, the second time in a week that the chamber has passed legislation targeting federal cannabis policy.

The bill, known as the Medical Marijuana Research Act, passed the House of Representatives by a bipartisan vote of 343 to 75.

Proponents like the bill’s sponsor, Democratic Congressman Ed Blumenauer, said it would open up crucial opportunities for US-based researchers who have often been paralyzed by the federal government’s cannabis ban.

Ahead of Monday’s vote, Blumenauer said in a tweet that the law would create a framework without which “research is outsourced to other countries — a missed opportunity for the industry and millions of Americans who use cannabis products.”

The bill, first introduced in the House of Representatives last October, “introduces a new, separate registration process to facilitate medical marijuana research,” according to an official summary of the measure.

More specifically, it would change the Controlled Substances Act, the federal law that keeps cannabis illegal in the United States, despite dozens of state and local governments ending their own cannabis prohibition in recent years.

The bill would direct the Drug Enforcement Administration to (1) register practitioners to conduct medical marijuana research and (2) manufacturers and distributors to supply marijuana for such research,” and the Department of Health and Human Services require “to produce marijuana through the National Institute on Drug Abuse Drug Supply Program and implement a specialized process for the supply of marijuana products available through federally authorized marijuana programs to researchers until manufacturers and distributors have an adequate supply of marijuana.” can provide for medical research.”

As indicated by Monday’s final vote in the House of Representatives, the bill enjoyed broad bipartisan support, bringing together nearly a dozen fellow Democratic and Republican supporters.

One of those co-sponsors, Republican Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio, tweeted his support for the legislation Monday night.

“For the sake of patients across the country and for the sake of US medical superiority around the world, we cannot allow outdated federal policies to continue to impede legitimate medical research,” Joyce said.

The legislation now goes to the Democrat-controlled US Senate, along with another major cannabis bill passed by the US House of Representatives last week.

On Friday, the House of Representatives, also controlled by Democrats, passed a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, effectively ending the federal ban on marijuana.

This bill, known as the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act, passed by a majority of 220 to 204 at the party level.

His Senate prospects appear bleak, however, as upper house Democrats indicate they would prefer to tackle their own legalization bill.

Proponents urged the Senate to follow the example of the House of Representatives and get something done.

“At a time when a majority of states regulate marijuana use and a majority of voters of all political ideologies support legalization, it makes no political, fiscal, or cultural sense for federal lawmakers to continue to support ‘flat earth.’ . failed federal prohibition policies of the past,” NORML associate director Paul Armentano told the High Times last week.

“It is time for members of the Senate to follow the example of the House of Representatives and take appropriate action to bring federal law into line with majority public opinion and the facility’s rapidly changing legal and cultural status.”

On Monday, after the House of Representatives voted on the medical cannabis research bill, Armentano said the “healthy regulatory changes to the legislation are necessary and long overdue.”

“Currently, the limited variety of cannabis strains available to federally licensed researchers does not represent the type or quality of cannabis products currently available in legal, nationwide markets. The fact that nearly half of adult Americans have legal access to this variety of cannabis products, yet our nation’s top scientists do not, is the height of absurdity and an indictment of the current system,” Armentano said, as quoted by Forbes.