Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Washington, D.C. - Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, plans on introducing a bipartisan, bicameral bill this week that would make it easier for researchers to study marijuana.
"This bill is about helping people," Farr said in a press release. "As more states pass their own medical marijuana laws, it's time for Congress to reexamine federal policy. This bill does just that by supporting research so policy decisions about the role of medical marijuana are based on science and facts instead of rhetoric.'
Farr will introduce the bill with Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, and Rep. H. Morgan Griffith, R-Va. A similar bill will be introduced in the Senate by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
"As a physician who has conducted (National Institutes of Health) sponsored research, I can't stress enough how critical this legislation is to the scientific community," said Harris, a former Johns Hopkins Hospital physician, in a prepared statement. "Our drug policy was never intended to act as an impediment to conducting legitimate medical research. We need empirical scientific evidence to clearly determine whether marijuana has medicinal benefits and, if so, how it would be used most effectively. This legislation is crucial to that effort, because it removes the unnecessary administrative barriers that deter qualified researchers from rigorously studying medical marijuana,"
The Medical Marijuana Research Act of 2016 would create a less cumbersome registration process specifically for marijuana research with the hopes of reducing approval wait times, costly security measures, and unnecessary layers of protocol review. The bill would make it easier for researchers who receive approval to obtain the needed marijuana for their studies through reforms in both production and distribution regulations.
"Despite the fact that over 200 million Americans now have legal access to some form of medical marijuana, federal policy is blocking science. It's outrageous," Blumenauer said in a statement. "We owe it to patients and their families to allow for the research physicians need to understand marijuana's benefits and risks and determine proper use and dosage. The federal government should get out of the way to allow for this long overdue research."
The bill would allow private manufacturing and distribution of marijuana for the sole purpose of research. The only marijuana currently available to be used in research legally comes from a single contract the National Institute on Drug Abuse holds with the University of Mississippi.
"There are countless reports of marijuana's medicinal benefits, but patients, doctors, pharmacists, and policymakers must have more to rely on than anecdotal evidence," Griffith said in a statement. "Removing the barriers that prevent further research on marijuana's medicinal benefits and possible side effects is the right thing to do, plain and simple."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Farr To Introduce Bipartisan Marijuana Research Bill
Author: Tommy Wright
Contact: (831) 372-3311
Photo Credit: Vern Fisher
Website: Monterey Herald
"This bill is about helping people," Farr said in a press release. "As more states pass their own medical marijuana laws, it's time for Congress to reexamine federal policy. This bill does just that by supporting research so policy decisions about the role of medical marijuana are based on science and facts instead of rhetoric.'
Farr will introduce the bill with Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, and Rep. H. Morgan Griffith, R-Va. A similar bill will be introduced in the Senate by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
"As a physician who has conducted (National Institutes of Health) sponsored research, I can't stress enough how critical this legislation is to the scientific community," said Harris, a former Johns Hopkins Hospital physician, in a prepared statement. "Our drug policy was never intended to act as an impediment to conducting legitimate medical research. We need empirical scientific evidence to clearly determine whether marijuana has medicinal benefits and, if so, how it would be used most effectively. This legislation is crucial to that effort, because it removes the unnecessary administrative barriers that deter qualified researchers from rigorously studying medical marijuana,"
The Medical Marijuana Research Act of 2016 would create a less cumbersome registration process specifically for marijuana research with the hopes of reducing approval wait times, costly security measures, and unnecessary layers of protocol review. The bill would make it easier for researchers who receive approval to obtain the needed marijuana for their studies through reforms in both production and distribution regulations.
"Despite the fact that over 200 million Americans now have legal access to some form of medical marijuana, federal policy is blocking science. It's outrageous," Blumenauer said in a statement. "We owe it to patients and their families to allow for the research physicians need to understand marijuana's benefits and risks and determine proper use and dosage. The federal government should get out of the way to allow for this long overdue research."
The bill would allow private manufacturing and distribution of marijuana for the sole purpose of research. The only marijuana currently available to be used in research legally comes from a single contract the National Institute on Drug Abuse holds with the University of Mississippi.
"There are countless reports of marijuana's medicinal benefits, but patients, doctors, pharmacists, and policymakers must have more to rely on than anecdotal evidence," Griffith said in a statement. "Removing the barriers that prevent further research on marijuana's medicinal benefits and possible side effects is the right thing to do, plain and simple."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Farr To Introduce Bipartisan Marijuana Research Bill
Author: Tommy Wright
Contact: (831) 372-3311
Photo Credit: Vern Fisher
Website: Monterey Herald
