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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Harris Introduces Bipartisan Bill Facilitating Medical Marijuana Research

WASHINGTON, DC: On July 25, Representatives Andy Harris, M.D. (R-MD-01), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-03), H. Morgan Griffith (R-VA-09), and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-19) introduced the Medical Marijuana Research Act of 2017. This bill heeds the calls of the medical research community to address the burdensome processes that currently hinder medical research on marijuana. This bipartisan bill removes barriers inhibiting medical marijuana research.

“As a physician who has conducted NIH sponsored research, I cannot stress enough how critical this legislation is to the scientific community. Our drug policy was never intended to act as an impediment to conducting legitimate medical research. If we are going to label marijuana as medicine, we need to conduct the same rigorous scientific research on efficacy and safety that every other FDA approved treatment undergoes. This legislation will facilitate that research by removing the unnecessary administrative barriers that deter qualified researchers from thoroughly studying medical marijuana,” said Dr. Harris.

“In what world would such a backwards policy make sense? It’s insane,” said Rep. Blumenauer. “We need to stop blocking science and allow for patients to get the information they need to make decisions about their health care. Doctors, patient advocates, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree, and it’s past time the federal government caught up.”

“There are countless reports of marijuana’s medicinal benefits, but patients, doctors, pharmacists, and policymakers must have more to rely on than anecdotal evidence,” said Congressman Griffith. “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.”

“Anecdotal evidence suggests that marijuana may have potential medical applications, from utilizing non-psychoactive marijuana to ease the symptoms of epileptic sufferers, or simply to fight nausea for those undergoing cancer treatments,” said Congresswoman Lofgren. “Unfortunately, under the current federal regulatory structure, marijuana researchers are limited by marijuana’s Schedule I classification. Enacting this bill will allow researchers and scientists the flexibility they need to fully study marijuana’s potential medical applications.”

The Medical Marijuana Research Act of 2017 addresses the major barriers currently faced by researchers who wish to conduct legitimate medical research with marijuana, a Schedule I drug. The bill creates a new, less cumbersome registration process specifically for marijuana research, reducing approval wait times, costly security measures, and additional, unnecessary layers of protocol review. This bill makes further reforms to both production and distribution regulations for marijuana, so once a scientist is approved to conduct medical marijuana research, the plant is easier to obtain. To this end, the bill also allows for the private manufacturing and distribution of marijuana solely for research purposes.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

AG Sessions will be none too happy about this because he's all for locking up pot growers and users.

Anonymous said...

The origins of the marijuana prohibition are racist and it is time to end it.
It is a plant created by God.
Allow the people the freedom that was given to them by their Creator.

Anonymous said...

Harris made it his priority to block Marijuana decriminalization in DC. I imagine his motives are not obtaining more information but using it for future obstruction. He came in under the flag of the Tea Party but he's big gov just like the rest.

Anonymous said...

The Marijuana research should have been completed BEFORE legalizing it by calling it "medical". There is absolutely no reason for the legalization. After all, if you can't find something in Ocean City to get high from, you probably never will. The whole things is driven by money, not any CREATOR.

Anonymous said...

I smoked alot of pot in my day long ago. And to this day, I don't know of any medicinal effects. It did make us want to try other drugs which we did, and I was clearly impaired when driving. Usually had a headache just like from drinking afterwards. Many people I knew had true paranoid and unable to function at all when smoking pot..

Anonymous said...

4:23, you need schooling. Find out for yourself how long cannabis has been used as a medicine, and the early 20th century US politics that first turned it into a prohibited substance. Become educated before you spout kneejerk Nixonian cannabis propaganda.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I can't recall the last time he 'introduced' a bill. And it makes sense, too. Way to go Dr. Harris.

Anonymous said...

4:44 PAHlesss. U never smoked pot. STFU

Your desire to try other drugs is your own piss poor judgementt. Your driving impairment again probbaly not from the weed but likely from you being tired or drinking alcohol. Your headache was NOT from pot. Probably dehydration. Paranoid? Maybe when you were a teenager. I have never met anyone that was crippled from weed.

People grow up.

Anonymous said...

4:55 PM:

What you cite are are excuses. High is high. Alcohol gets you high. Weed gets you high. WHY do you feel that alcohol isn't enough for your (or other's) needs? We do not need to enrich Jim Mathias' efforts to steer weed legislation to his buddies. It IS about money.

Anonymous said...

Its only about money because the NAZIs in charge dictate it to be so. It can be grow personally no need for government, dispenseries, or money to change hands. No one has died from this natural substance. The crimminal aspect is the reason for the problems. NOT THE PLANT. Big pharma, tabacco and our greedy government keep it illegal. Because otherwise it would put courts, police, acholcol, tabacco, and drug companies OUT OF BUSSINESS or reduce their profits.

Anonymous said...

4:23- There is no reason for it to be ILLEGAL is the proper way of describing Marijuana. There are many proven reasons to allow medical usage. You are obviously not well read. Alcohol should be illegal if Weed is illegal. Grass is much less harmful and accident prone. 3:19 is correct, the origins of prohibition were based on total racism. Can't have the black's getting high and looking at white women! 4:44-That is your own bad choices. You can't blame smoking weed with doing actual drugs. 507- AGREED! 4:55 Doesn't matter how much I smoke, I will go to work in the morning. Try that on a bender! It's not about alcohol being enough to get high. You sound like a real drinker! There has never been a naturally recorded death from smoking weed. If I make it within 5 years of Willie Nelson, that is much better than the life expectancy of an alcoholic. That is fact! Also, think about the tax benefit for the state. Also, a lot less illegal grass sales. Nothing short of a win for Maryland.

Anonymous said...

Alcohol gets you drunk, NOT HIGH, then make irrational decisions, and at worst, gets people killed. Weed doesn't get me "high." It makes me able to easily deal with people, much like yourself, and not get angry. It makes me ponder why people are just so mean, even with their fellow locals or neighbors. It puts me in a better mind to avoid people of perpetual conflict. Always seeking a reason to be angry and to come up with reasons of justification. It makes me productive, a little more passive, and makes chores, not fun but more agreeably daily, thoroughly, and constantly.

My life is not defined by smoking weed, which is a stereotype. How many coffee drinkers can begin their day without their first, or sometimes a third or fourth cup? That is an addiction! I can wait until all the work is done, and even call my mom to check in before I take a toke! Within the next 5 years you will find dispensaries, hopefully in Maryland, but defiantly in Delaware. Probably right next to every GameStop in all the strip malls. Finally, for all the idiots driving with more than 10 grams of weed, you are not helping with the future of legalization.

Anonymous said...

We used to be free.

Anonymous said...

Given it takes almost 2 hours per pound to smoke a pulled pork or brisket, or any good BBQ, weed users make the best BBQ! Patience, and being content with staying home, really makes good BBQ. Also, good food can easily be made if one can follow a recipe, which "burnouts" easily excel at, that is, following the instructions for recipes. If you don't believe me, all stoners have their own recipe for Mac and Cheese, grilled cheese, etc. I went to an obviously stoner, hipster joint in Chicago. I had the best Flat Iron Steak with Pumpkin Ravioli. Point being, a stoner's palette is a mostly undiscovered frontier. For any one wanting a perfect stoner condiment, modified over 25 years since college starting at a rental on Pine Bluff, write this down! You won't find anything like it, or as cheap at the market, which is very odd, given the near endless selection of BBQ sauces. But no marketed Vinegar sauce? This is better than any I have ever had with the exception of Sonny's in Florida.

2.5 CUPS CIDER VINEGAR
.5 CUPS KETCHUP
2 T OF BROWN SUGAR
1 T OF TABASCO ( NO SUBSTITUTES )
4 TEASPOON SALT
2 TEASPOON OF PEPPER
1.5 TABLESPOON OF FAVORITE BBQ RUB.

Simple. I've put on pulled pork, sandwiches, sliced tomatoes, more sandwiches, sauteed cabbage, tacos, french fries, eggs, potato chips, etc. I have even taken a shot or two of the sauce. If you end up using this recipe, I hope you will comment on it or pass it along.

Anonymous said...

Legalized or 100% black market. Choose one, because it isn't going away.

Steve said...

6:31 has it right. Legalize it and let anyone who wants some grow their own.

Done deal. I will choose not to, but to those who do, go for it!

But, don't drive high.

Anonymous said...

My father's 1927 DEA license listed marijuana as a controlled substance medicine that could be used.