Earl Blumenauer
08/02/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/02/2024 08:42
Blumenauer: “Reclassifying cannabis is paramount to effectively researching it”
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) founder and co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, released the following statement on the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) overdue report on federal barriers to researching marijuana. The report was mandated by Blumenauer's Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act (MMCREA), which was signed into law in 2022. The MMCREA is the first standalone marijuana reform enacted since the adoption of the Controlled Substances Act.
"This report validates what we have known for years: reclassifying cannabis is paramount to effectively researching it. I welcome these long overdue but anticipated findings as a signal that the federal government may soon be a constructive partner in the path forward. The Biden-Harris Administration must now move quickly to complete the scheduling review and Congress redouble its efforts to allow for the research of dispensary grade cannabis. We are inching closer each day toward the inevitable legalization of cannabis."
Blumenauer's original legislation as introduced in the U.S House of Representatives included provisions to ease restrictions on researching dispensary-grade cannabis.
The report can be found here.
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