Congressman Cohen: New Senate Bill Would Help Ease Suffering of Children with Epilepsy

Congressman is also leading bipartisan bill with Senators Cory Booker and Rand Paul to recognize medicinal marijuana nationwide

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, today commended Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) along with Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Michael Bennet (D-CO) for introducing the bipartisan Therapeutic Hemp Medical Access Act of 2015. The legislation is similar to legislation Congressman Cohen has cosponsored in the House that would allow for medicinal use of a safe and effective, non-psychoactive cannabis oil known as cannabidiol (CBD) that has been shown to ease the suffering of children with epilepsy. Chloe Grauer, a Memphis 3-year-old who suffered from a rare neurological disorder that caused her dozens of seizures every day, passed away in 2014 after other treatment options failed and she was denied access to CBD treatments due to state and federal restrictions.

“3 year old Chloe Grauer suffered from debilitating seizures that could have been alleviated by CBD, but the treatment was denied to her because of out-of-touch state and federal drug laws,” said Congressman Cohen. “CBD does not contain enough THC to produce a high, and it has been shown to work for similar medical conditions. I am pleased that a healthcare issue like this is becoming more and more bipartisan by the day, and I commend Senators Gardner, Wyden, Isakson, Merkley, Hatch, and Bennet for introducing a bipartisan bill to help children like Chloe, who passed away late last year, have access to this vital treatment.”

Chloe Grauer’s 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 because of marijuana’s Schedule I classification—the same highly-restrictive classification as heroin, LSD, and ecstasy. 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. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have already legalized medical marijuana. Roughly a dozen additional states recognize a medical use for CBD, which is 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.

“Republicans and Democrats agree: federal law on medical marijuana is outdated, out of touch, and needs to change,” said Congressman Cohen. “Ailing patients deserve compassion, not prosecution.”

In addition to cosponsoring the Charlotte’s Web Medical Access Act, which would remove CBD from the federal definition of marijuana, Congressman Cohen is also spearheading a broader, bipartisan federal medical marijuana reform bill with Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) as well as Congressman Don Young (R-AK). Ten Republicans and ten Democrats have now cosponsored the bipartisan, bicameral Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act, which would let states set their own medical marijuana policies, recognize a legitimate medical use for marijuana at the federal level, and allow Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to recommend safe and effective marijuana-related treatments. The bill would also provide greater access to CBD for ailing patients.

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 the drug, though that recommendation was never acted upon.