A recent letter to the heads of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Andy Harris (R-MD) tackle the issue of cannabis research in America. In the letter, they specifically want answers about how the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act is being used. Signed into effect by Biden in December 2022, the duo headed up the drafting of this legislation.
While looking at cannabis legalization in different ways, they see their efforts as a “historic breakthrough in addressing the federal government’s misguided restriction of research on the impacts of cannabis.” One that they claim the HHS and DEA have not implemented “in line with congressional intent.”
The duo also said, “At a time when more than half of Americans reside in a place where adult-use of cannabis is legal at the state or local level, and there are four million registered medical marijuana users with many more likely to self-medicate, it is essential that we are able to fully study the impacts of cannabis use. The American public deserves to know the effect modern marijuana has on the human body.”
With the HHS more than three months overdue in submitting a report to Congress about the dangers of medical marijuana, they need to get off their hands and get to work. This report is crucial to the future of America, and the implications we need to be aware of as cannabis continues to spread across the nation. Given the high level of anecdotal evidence and claims about the positives cannabis can have, this report should be a major priority for these agencies.