On August 2, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), founder and co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, released a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report on the Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids and Barriers to Research. Consistent with an earlier HHS analysis that underlies the Drug Enforcement Administration’s proposal to transfer marijuana to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act, this report to Congress states that there are medical benefits associated with the use of FDA-approved cannabinoid medications and there is credible scientific support suggesting that cannabis has additional therapeutic potential.
HHS further notes, however, that additional research is needed to address a variety of risks and unknowns relating to the use of cannabis, and that barriers to research must be addressed, such as that researchers cannot legally obtain or analyze products sold through state marijuana dispensaries under current DEA regulations.