The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) told Congress in a report obtained by Marijuana Moment that the Schedule I status of controlled substances like cannabis is preventing or discouraging research into their potential risks and benefits. It also said that current restrictions that block scientists from studying the actual cannabinoid products that consumers can purchase at dispensaries is impeding research to an extent that constitutes a public health concern.<\/p>\n
In a document that was submitted to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, as requested under previously enacted spending legislation<\/a>, NIDA discussed \u201cbarriers to research with Schedule I substances\u201d such as the \u201cadministratively complex\u201d process scientists must follow in order to receive federal authorization from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to study the drugs.<\/p>\n \u201cResearchers have reported that obtaining a new registration can take more than a year, that modifying a registration can also be time consuming, and that differing interpretations of the Schedule I registration requirements among local DEA field offices, research institutions, as well as distinct federal and state registration requirements, greatly complicate the process,\u201d the federal agency told lawmakers. \u201cThese challenges can impede critical research on Schedule I substances and deter or prevent scientists from pursuing such work.\u201d<\/p>\n It added that \u201can overarching concern expressed by researchers is a lack of transparency regarding registration requirements for Schedule I and Schedule II-V substances, and differing interpretations of those requirements by DEA field agents and research institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n NIDA listed a series of issues that scientists have raised about Schedule I research barriers:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n -When a drug is classified in Schedule I, that can result in \u201cunexpected delays in ongoing research.\u201d<\/p>\n -Researchers who need to change course in a study of a Schedule I substance\u2014including something seemingly minor like adjusting the quantity being used\u2014must re-register with DEA, causing further delays.<\/p>\n -Previously, just one person in a team of investigators would need to be registered with DEA. That\u2019s apparently changed over time, with researchers telling NIDA that all members of the team require separate registration.<\/p>\n -DEA in some cases has required researchers to obtain multiple registrations for every physical site at which they carry out studies into Schedule I drugs, even if all the research is contained to a single campus.<\/p>\n -Complications surrounding access to different formulations and dosages of Schedule I drugs have also proved challenging, such and have caused confusion about whether a separate and more expensive manufacturing registration is needed for researchers whose studies require, for example, dissolving marijuana extracts in ethanol or oil before they can be used.<\/p>\n A separate section of the report focuses specifically on \u201cchallenges associated with conducting marijuana research, which go beyond those related to the registration process\u201d and thus deserve \u201cseparate mention in light of the increasing availability and potency of marijuana and the proliferation of new marijuana products.\u201d<\/p>\n It notes that researchers are currently limited to a supply of cannabis that\u2019s grown exclusively at the University of Mississippi, which is currently the only federally authorized marijuana manufacturer. Lawmakers and scientists have long argued that the cannabis grown at the facility is inconsistent with products available in state-legal markets, raising questions about the validity of research that depends on the government\u2019s marijuana.<\/p>\n DEA said this year that it is taking steps toward approving additional applications<\/a> to become federally authorized marijuana producers for research purposes. At the same time, it is proposing significant increases in the production of research-grade Schedule I drugs<\/a> like marijuana, psilocybin and MDMA for 2022.<\/p>\n But NIDA pointed out that even while approving new manufacturers would \u201cincrease the diversity of products and formulations available to researchers,\u201d it still wouldn\u2019t shed light on the kinds of products that consumers are purchasing from legal markets in a growing number of states.<\/p>\n \u201cResearchers supported by NIDA and other federal agencies are unable to use federal funds to purchase marijuana available through state marijuana dispensaries,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n \u201cMoreover, some universities have expressed reticence about allowing investigators to purchase dispensary products with non-federal funds or do research with these products on university grounds for fear of violating federal law,\u201d it said. \u201cThese products may differ from the actual products being sold to consumers. The inability of researchers to access marketed products may pose barriers to studying the health effects of products that individuals are using in real-world settings.\u201d<\/p>\n NIDA Director Nora Volkow made similar remarks in a recent interview with Marijuana Moment<\/a>, saying that she thinks \u201cit would be theoretically ideal to understand the actual products that people are consuming, as opposed to trying to understand it with a different compound\u2014a different plant that will vary in terms of the contents of ingredients.\u201d<\/p>\n Several measures to address the issue are being considered in Congress.<\/p>\n Last week, a bipartisan group of House members filed one such bill which, in addition to generally streamlining the research registration process, would allow scientists to study dispensary cannabis<\/a>. Late last year, the House\u00a0approved an identical version of the marijuana science legislation<\/a>. Days later, the\u00a0Senate passed a similar bill<\/a>\u00a0but nothing ended up getting to the president\u2019s desk by the end of the last Congress. Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of senators\u00a0refiled their marijuana research measure<\/a>\u00a0for the current 117th Congress.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, lawmakers are also advancing a separate strategy to open up dispensary cannabis to researchers. Large-scale infrastructure legislation that has passed both chambers in differing forms and which is pending final action contains provisions aimed at\u00a0allowing researchers to study the actual marijuana that consumers are purchasing<\/a>\u00a0from state-legal businesses instead of having to use only government-grown cannabis.<\/p>\n The existence of the newly revealed NIDA overview of Schedule I research barriers was made public in a\u00a0Senate Appropriations Committee report attached to a spending package that was released last week<\/a>. The panel expressed concerns about \u201crestrictions associated with Schedule I of the Controlled Substance Act which effectively limits the amount and type of research that can be conducted on certain Schedule I drugs, especially opioids, marijuana or its component chemicals and new synthetic drugs and analogs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt a time when we need as much information as possible about these drugs and antidotes for their harmful effects, the Committee believes we should be lowering regulatory and other barriers to conducting this research,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n However, the committee said it \u201cappreciates NIDA\u2019s completion of a report on the barriers to research that result from the classification of drugs and compounds as Schedule I substances including the challenges researchers face as a result of limited access to sources of marijuana including dispensary products.\u201d<\/p>\n Read NIDA\u2019s report<\/a> on Schedule I research barriers below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Click to access fr01-nida-schedule-i-research-barriers-rtc_final-to-fc-wf-388997-_-signed.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n USPS Releases Final Rule Banning Mailing Of Hemp, CBD And Marijuana Vapes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Top Federal Drug Agency Tells Congress About Marijuana Research Barriers Caused By Restrictive Scheduling<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) told Congress in a report obtained by Marijuana Moment that the Schedule I status of controlled substances like cannabis is preventing or discouraging research into their potential risks and benefits. It also said that current restrictions that block scientists from studying the actualContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,15462],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50727"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50728,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50727\/revisions\/50728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Top Federal Drug Agency Tells Congress About Marijuana Research Barriers Caused By Restrictive Scheduling<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"