Congressional lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a bill to establish a federal cannabis research program and allow universities to conduct cannabis studies with federal grants.
The text is titled Developing and Nationalizing Key Cannabis Research Act (Law on the development and nationalization of research on cannabis) with the first 4 evocative initials (DANK which is used to designate powerful, sticky and well-structured weeds), without it being known whether this was intentional or nope.
Either way, measurement requires National Institutes on Health (NIH) that they collaborate with other agencies, including Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), to develop “a national cannabis research agenda that addresses key questions and evidence gaps.”
This program should include six main research objectives. For example, agencies should prioritize studies on the safety and efficacy of cannabis in treating multiple diseases such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, chemotherapy-related pain and nausea, and cancer. use of cannabis as an alternative to opioids.
Other items on the agenda include research on the effects of cannabis on “at-risk populations” such as children and pregnant women, the “non-therapeutic effects” of cannabis, the relationship between cannabis use and behavioral health, “clinically appropriate cannabis dosages and modes of administration,” and other public safety considerations related to potency, youth access, and abuse.
The tabling of this new legislation comes the same week the U.S. House of Representatives separately voted to approve another bipartisan cannabis research bill that also aims to speed up and simplify the process of obtaining necessary permissions. This measure, which would not allow researchers to study cannabis from dispensaries unlike the DANK Act, should be quickly taken up by the Senate before possibly being sent to President Joe Biden’s desk.
