The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has officially completed its report into the state of cannabis research in the country, six months overdue.
As part of President Biden’s Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, signed in 2022, the HHS was tasked with examining the remaining federal barriers to cannabis research, with an initial deadline set for December, 2023.
The report was sent to lawmakers in June, raising three key areas that prevent wider research into cannabis and its potential medical benefits from flourishing.
Its publication comes just weeks after the public comment period into the proposed rescheduling of cannabis, which, if passed, could significantly streamline the research process.
While cannabis remains a Schedule I substance, researchers are required to register with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), a long and complex process which researchers have complained is not always clear to follow and can vary from state to state.
Furthermore, the DEA is also required to pre-approve the dispensary where researchers source their cannabis. The agency is yet to approve a single cannabis dispensary, meaning researchers are often forced to study participants own reporting or use photos of dispensary products.
Finally, the proliferation of intoxicating hemp products and inconsistencies surrounding the legality of hemp and hemp-derived products have also driven over-caution in the research community.
With this in mind, the HHS has recommended that the ‘HALT Fenanyl Act’, which would open the door for research on all Schedule I substances, be enacted after getting stuck in the Senate.
Also, President Biden’s 2022 bipartisan Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act should be implemented, significantly shortening and simplifying the application process for cannabis research.
Earl Blumenauer, co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus and sponsor of the marijuana research bill that led to the new report, said: “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.”
