Long-Awaited HHS Report Details Paths To Reducing Cannabis Research Barriers

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On Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) released a long overdue and awaited report on federal barriers to cannabis research. 

For background: the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act (MMCREA), the research bill that Pres. Biden signed in 2022, required HHS to send a report to Congress by Dec. 2, 2023. 

The report’s punchline: the Schedule I status of cannabis has indeed hampered research, but questions remain about the best path forward, especially given the ongoing rescheduling process. 

“While there is some credible evidence that cannabis has therapeutic potential for chronic pain, there is less support for its effectiveness in other conditions. There are also acute and chronic adverse effects of cannabis, especially among certain populations. Although research advances on the effects of cannabis have been made, regulatory barriers that emanate from the Schedule I control status of cannabis at the federal level can hinder progress,” the authors of the report wrote. 

Now what?

Federal officials have taken a number of steps to expand their work on cannabis research, the report notes, like on data collection with the Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA). NIDA also “recently funded a research project to develop a cannabis registry with the goal of gaining a better understanding of dispensary products that are being used by patients for medicinal purposes.” 

But, researcher access to the type of cannabis that is for sale on state-legal, licensed shelves remains an issue, which has created a “substantial gap in understanding the impact of cannabis products on health.” 

“Licensing cannabis growers that are already providing products to state dispensaries as approved manufacturers of research-grade cannabis is one possible path through which researchers could access some of the same products sold in state-legal markets. Exploring partnerships through which the federal government could legally acquire and make available to registered researchers cannabis products from state-authorized dispensaries could also bridge this gap,” the report authors wrote. 

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, was a sponsor of the cannabis research bill. 

“This report validates what we have known for years: reclassifying cannabis is paramount to effectively researching it. 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,” Blumenauer said in a statement.

The report concluded by highlighting that “continued regulatory hurdles” and research access barriers to the “products the public is using,” whether for medical or nonmedical purposes, “must be addressed.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Sens. Cory Booker, Ron Wyden, and Kirsten Gillibrand, among others, wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram on Friday to support rescheduling.

“The proposed rule to reclassify marijuana to schedule III recognizes the medical benefits of marijuana, will improve access for studying the health effects of short and long-term cannabis use, and will provide relief to cannabis businesses that continue to navigate a patchwork regulatory system to conduct legal business,” they wrote. (You can read the letter here.)

More context: As we reported last month, the public comment window on rescheduling, which drew more than 40,000 comments, has closed. (You can catch up on some of our analysis of the comments here.)