President Biden Signs Cannabis Research Bill
On Dec. 2, President Biden signed into law H.R. 8454, the “Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act,” which establishes a new registration process for conducting research on marijuana and for manufacturing marijuana products for research purposes and drug development.
In a press release, the president said thank you to Representatives Blumenauer, Harris, Griffith, Joyce, Mace, and Perlmutter, Delegate Norton, and Senators Feinstein, Grassley, Schatz, Durbin, Klobuchar, Tillis, Kaine, Ernst, Tester, and Murkowski for their leadership.
Specifically, the bill directs the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to follow specified procedures to register (1) practitioners to conduct marijuana research, and (2) manufacturers to supply marijuana for the research.
The bill allows certain registered entities (including institutions of higher education, practitioners and manufacturers) to manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess marijuana or cannabidiol (CBD) for the purposes of medical research. Additionally, the bill directs the DEA to register manufacturers and distributors of CBD or marijuana for the purpose of commercial production of an approved drug that contains marijuana or its derivative.
View the complete bill at www.congress.gov.
