Politics
Bipartisan Lawmakers Urge DEA To Approve More Marijuana Growers
Thirty members of Congress—including three presidential candidates—sent a letter to the heads of the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Tuesday, imploring the officials to speed up the process of approving additional federally authorized marijuana cultivators.
The bipartisan letter, which was led by Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Steve Cohen (D-TN), states that federal agencies have ignored previous requests for information about the status of pending applications and explains the need for more manufacturers to produce research-grade cannabis.
With @RepMattGaetz & @RepCohen, I led 27 other Members in sending a letter to @TheJusticeDept & @DEAHQ urging it be made easier to do better, quicker research on #marijuana. This would bring us closer to realizing its full power in treating diseases. https://t.co/sKK8zgShYW
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) May 7, 2019
As it stands, there is current just one federally authorized marijuana cultivation facility, at the University of Mississippi. The cannabis it produces has been criticized for a lack of product diversity and because it does not chemically resemble the marijuana that’s being sold and consumed in states where it’s legal.
“The application process to research cannabis is one that is arduous and long,” the lawmakers wrote, noting that cultivating cannabis for federal research purposes requires DEA approval and coordination with the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Food and Drug Administration.
The result is that researchers interested in studying marijuana “wait months or even years to have their applications approved” and “then they have to deal with raw materials that do not always lend themselves to proper research.”
While DEA moved in 2016 to create a process to license more growers—and later said it was increasing the quota for research-grade marijuana fivefold due to projected increases in demand—the agency has yet to approve any of the more than two dozen applications that have been filed to date.
“We urge you then to go beyond these steps and do whatever you can to speed up and improve the research application process,” they wrote. “Please let us know what you are considering to change the application process so it moves more quickly and what additional resources from Congress would help in that regard.”
The Federal approval system is currently too difficult for cannabis researchers and scientists.
We must make it easier to research the medicinal benefits of cannabis. https://t.co/xviaPHKCRP
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) May 7, 2019
Swalwell, Gaetz and Cohen were joined by a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who signed onto the new letter. Reps. Don Young (R-AK), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), David Joyce (R-OH), Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Seth Moulton (D-MA) were among those who signed the letter.
Swalwell, Gabbard and Moulton are all seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Joined 28 of my colleagues to ask @TheJusticeDept & @DEAHQ to accelerate and improve research on the medical benefits of cannabis. Cannabis can provide safe and effective relief to suffering patients, but we need more research to deploy it. pic.twitter.com/9yIftAcJCb
— Rep. Scott Peters (@RepScottPeters) May 8, 2019
In addition to expressing their desire to expand the number of federally authorized marijuana manufacturers, the members also listed a series of questions that were posed to the Justice Department in earlier correspondence that did not receive a response:
“1. What is the current status of the 26 cannabis manufacturer applications? How long has each been pending before DOJ and DEA?
2. What steps have the DEA and DOJ taken to review the cannabis manufacturer applications currently pending? What are the reasons these applications have not been approved?
3. When do you estimate the DEA and DOJ will complete their review of all of the cannabis manufacturing applications and begin approving some as new manufacturers?
4. In the past 12 months, excluding Schedule I Bulk Manufacturer registrations for cannabis, how many other DEA registrations has DOJ reviewed?”
While the Justice Department was reportedly prevented from approving the applications under then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the current attorney general has expressed interest in expanding the cannabis facilities and pledged to review that applications.
“I think we’re going to move forward on it,” Attorney General William Barr said last month. “I think it’s very important to get those additional suppliers.”
“We hope DOJ and DEA share our goal of bringing safe and effective medical treatments to those who are suffering as quickly as possible,” the members wrote in the letter. “We believe cannabis can be part of the solution, but we need more research to make that happen.”
Read the lawmakers’ letter on expanding marijuana research below:
Letter to DEA re marijuana … by on Scribd
Federally Produced Marijuana Is Closer To Hemp Than Commercial Cannabis, Study Shows
Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
