Medical Marijuana Research Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HARRIS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia for yielding me time.

Mr. Blumenauer and I have jointly led and sponsored this bill for four Congresses. Although we disagree about recreational marijuana--he supports it; I oppose it--as a physician, I realize that if we are going to have medical marijuana legal, as the gentlewoman from Michigan says, in over three dozen States, we really ought to do research on it to see what it is used for and what it can't be used for because, Madam Speaker, many claims are made about it. Some are legitimate; some are illegitimate.

The American public, if we are to have this product legal in 37 States now, they deserve to know whether it works for what the claims are made.

What this bill does is simple. It makes it easier to do rigorous medical research, the same type of research we expect to be done on any of the drugs that are sold as medicines in this country. That is what this bill does.

It has been a long time coming. I thank the chairman for bringing this bill out. Hopefully, it gets across the finish line in both Houses and goes to the President's desk for signature.

Madam Speaker, the American public deserves to know what medical marijuana is useful for because, again, for anyone who has one of the conditions that it might be useful for, this could be a godsend. For other conditions where it is claimed, it will be found to be not effective, but the American public needs to know.

The Medical Marijuana Research Act is the way to get this done. Modernize our research methods. Bring them up to the scientific standards we use for every other type of medication in this country that is sold as a drug.

Madam Speaker, I support H.R. 5657.

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