Cohen Commends Obama Administration for Lifting Research Barriers on Medical Marijuana, Criticizes DEA for Failing to Reschedule Marijuana

[MEMPHIS, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, today commended the Obama Administration for announcing a new policy that would allow other universities to apply to grow marijuana for medical research. Currently, only the University of Mississippi is authorized to grow marijuana for use in medical studies. Congressman Cohen also criticized the Drug Enforcement Administration for failing to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I substances, the most dangerous and addictive substances. The DEA had suggested it might do so by the end of June.

“I commend President Obama for announcing he will remove barriers on other universities to apply to grow marijuana for medical research,” said Congressman Cohen. “While I am encouraged by the progress and believe this new policy will lead to more scientific studies that could be used to treat dozens of diseases, more should have been done. The DEA said it would consider removing marijuana as a Schedule I drug by the end of June, but it failed to do so. Marijuana must be rescheduled. Numerous physicians and 25 states recognize the medical benefits of marijuana and keeping marijuana as Schedule I—with heroin and LSD—is ludicrous. It is an injustice and an anachronism. It is an extreme example of a cultural lag as society has moved way ahead of our outdated drug laws. The Attorney General can and should act to better reflect the science, the medical research, and the opinions of the American people when it comes to the federal classification of marijuana. And by the way, congratulations to Michael Phelps, the world’s greatest athlete.”

Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have already legalized medical marijuana. Roughly a dozen additional states recognize a medical use for cannabidiol (CBD), a therapeutic compound derived from marijuana that has virtually no THC, the drug’s psychoactive ingredient, but that families have used successfully to treat their children’s seizures.

Memphis 3-year-old Chloe Grauer suffered from a rare neurological disease that caused her to have 100 to 200 seizures daily. Her family tried dozens of options to treat her disease including medications and surgery, but nothing stopped the seizures. Her family also tried to treat her with CBD, but were unable to do so because marijuana has a Schedule I classification—the same highly-restrictive classification as heroin, LSD, and ecstasy. Sadly, Chloe passed away in 2014. Despite current federal limits on marijuana research and medical usage, there is mounting evidence that the drug is an effective and safe treatment for nausea, pain, anxiety, and other disorders including certain symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Congressman Cohen is also the lead Democratic sponsor in the House of Representatives of the bipartisan, bicameral Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act. If passed and signed into law, the CARERS Act would:

• Allow states to set their own medical marijuana policies and eliminate federal prosecution of patients, providers, and businesses in states with medical marijuana programs,
• Reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II, recognizing legitimate medical use
• Allow for greater access to cannabidiol (CBD),
• Allow access to banking services for marijuana-related businesses that are operating pursuant to state law,
• Allow VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana, and
• Cut red tape and expand opportunities for research on marijuana.

When the Controlled Substances Act first became law in 1970, Assistant Secretary of Health Roger Egeberg recommended that marijuana be placed on Schedule I temporarily until the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (known as the Shafer Commission) reported its findings on the drug. The Commission’s 1972 report recommended decriminalizing cannabis, though that recommendation was never acted upon because the politics of President Richard Nixon intervened, and he wanted this issue to use war protesters and African Americans as foils for his war on drugs.