Pubdate: Mon, 20 Jun 2016
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/submitletters
Website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/394
Author: Tommy Wright

FARR TO INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN MARIJUANA RESEARCH BILL

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."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom