Medical Marijuana Research Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Medical Marijuana Research Act, which would streamline outdated bureaucratic barriers and Federal roadblocks preventing legitimate medical research into the impacts of medical marijuana.

I, too, like my colleague, thank you for your leadership. I have a healthy fear of drugs, having lost a sister to a drug overdose, but there is just too much information we do not have.

We have seen dramatic changes in the legal status of marijuana at the State level. Almost 1 year ago to the day, sales of recreational marijuana began in my home State of Michigan. Following multiple successful State ballot initiatives last month, medical marijuana is now legal in 36 States. However, the Federal framework for conducting marijuana research is decades old and has not kept pace with these changes.

Currently, as has been said by my other colleagues, scientists in the United States looking to conduct research on marijuana must contend with a heavy-handed, duplicative registration and licensure process that doesn't work. They are limited to using marijuana grown at a single location overseen by the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the University of Mississippi.

Collectively, this regulatory red tape greatly limits our understanding of the health impacts of marijuana and prevents qualified researchers from engaging in further study.

We are driving cars that NHTSA can't do the research they need to do about people driving while smoking. We should know that.

The Medical Marijuana Research Act will streamline this cumbersome process by preventing bureaucratic roadblocks on marijuana research registration applications. It will also direct the FDA to issue guidelines on the production of marijuana and ensure that adequate amounts are available for research.

The legislation also mandates a comprehensive review of the available body of research on marijuana by the Secretary of Health and Human Services 5 years after enactment.

I thank my colleagues--Congresspersons Blumenauer, Griffith, Lofgren, Harris, and Rob Bishop--for all of their work on this. This does matter. We need answers. And I thank my chairman, who has been great about this.

I refuse to accept the fact that our Ranking Member Walden is leaving. He is a dear friend, and he has made so much of a difference. He has had very thoughtful input on this, as he does on everything.

Mr. Speaker, it is high time we modernize our Nation's Federal regulations to facilitate legitimate medical research into the impacts of marijuana, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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