Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Senator Gillibrand, Joined By Bipartisan Group Of Senators And Representatives, Urge DEA To Remove Barriers To Research On Medical Marijuana, Request Meeting
Citing New Information from the State Department and Documents from HHS, Senators and Representatives Urge DEA to Remove Cannabis from List of Schedule I Controlled Substances and End Medical Marijuana Research Supply Monopoly Senators Request Meeting with DEA Administrator If He Does Not Take Action On Medical Marijuana
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), along with Senators Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Jeffrey A. Merkley (D- OR), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) sent a letter urging acting Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Chuck Rosenberg to remove barriers to research on medical marijuana to facilitate new medical research on cannabis and its derivatives. The Senators and Representatives are also requesting a meeting with Administrator Rosenberg if he does not take action on medical marijuana.
Citing documents showing that the information from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which has already determined that medication naturally derived from the cannabis plant has a medical use, the Senators and Representatives are urging DEA Administrator Rosenberg to remove cannabis from the list of Schedule I controlled substances, reserved only for those substances with no "accepted medical use.
Citing new information from the Department of State indicating that the U.S. is not bound by treaty to restrict the total number of licenses to grow cannabis, the Senators and Representatives also urging DEA Administrator Rosenberg to end the monopoly on the research supply and grant multiple licenses for the cultivation of cannabis for medical research. To date, the DEA has only issued a single license to the University of Mississippi and last year only two researchers in the United States received cannabis for medical research with human patients.
Currently, more than half of U.S. states have passed laws allowing medical use of the cannabis plant and 42 states allow the medical use of some substance derived from cannabis. Yet, federal policies continue to hinder medical researchers' ability to study the benefits of cannabis, particularly as a therapy for conditions which are resistant to other forms of treatment. The two greatest administrative barriers impeding scientists are the research restrictions created by the Schedule I classification of cannabis and the artificial limitation of a research supply.
"We request that you take immediate action to remove 'cannabis' and 'tetrahydrocannabinols' from Schedule I. We also ask that you issue a public statement informing the research community that the DEA, in compliance with international obligations, will accept new applications to bulk manufacture cannabis for medical and scientific purposes, to be approved on merit-based criteria," the Senators and Representatives wrote in the letter, citing documents from HHS and new information from the Department of State. "In light of this new information, we look forward to your immediate action to remove these two administrative barriers to research. If you are not prepared to take action at this time, we request a personal meeting with you to discuss your reasons for not doing so."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Urge DEA To Remove Barriers To Research On Medical Marijuana
Author: Patricia Williams
Contact: Political News
Photo Credit: Reuters
Website: Political News
Citing New Information from the State Department and Documents from HHS, Senators and Representatives Urge DEA to Remove Cannabis from List of Schedule I Controlled Substances and End Medical Marijuana Research Supply Monopoly Senators Request Meeting with DEA Administrator If He Does Not Take Action On Medical Marijuana
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), along with Senators Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Jeffrey A. Merkley (D- OR), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) sent a letter urging acting Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Chuck Rosenberg to remove barriers to research on medical marijuana to facilitate new medical research on cannabis and its derivatives. The Senators and Representatives are also requesting a meeting with Administrator Rosenberg if he does not take action on medical marijuana.
Citing documents showing that the information from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which has already determined that medication naturally derived from the cannabis plant has a medical use, the Senators and Representatives are urging DEA Administrator Rosenberg to remove cannabis from the list of Schedule I controlled substances, reserved only for those substances with no "accepted medical use.
Citing new information from the Department of State indicating that the U.S. is not bound by treaty to restrict the total number of licenses to grow cannabis, the Senators and Representatives also urging DEA Administrator Rosenberg to end the monopoly on the research supply and grant multiple licenses for the cultivation of cannabis for medical research. To date, the DEA has only issued a single license to the University of Mississippi and last year only two researchers in the United States received cannabis for medical research with human patients.
Currently, more than half of U.S. states have passed laws allowing medical use of the cannabis plant and 42 states allow the medical use of some substance derived from cannabis. Yet, federal policies continue to hinder medical researchers' ability to study the benefits of cannabis, particularly as a therapy for conditions which are resistant to other forms of treatment. The two greatest administrative barriers impeding scientists are the research restrictions created by the Schedule I classification of cannabis and the artificial limitation of a research supply.
"We request that you take immediate action to remove 'cannabis' and 'tetrahydrocannabinols' from Schedule I. We also ask that you issue a public statement informing the research community that the DEA, in compliance with international obligations, will accept new applications to bulk manufacture cannabis for medical and scientific purposes, to be approved on merit-based criteria," the Senators and Representatives wrote in the letter, citing documents from HHS and new information from the Department of State. "In light of this new information, we look forward to your immediate action to remove these two administrative barriers to research. If you are not prepared to take action at this time, we request a personal meeting with you to discuss your reasons for not doing so."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Urge DEA To Remove Barriers To Research On Medical Marijuana
Author: Patricia Williams
Contact: Political News
Photo Credit: Reuters
Website: Political News
