US Senate Subcommittee to Hold Hearing on Marijuana Research

US Senate Subcommittee to Hold Hearing on Marijuana Research including its pros and cons

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, chaired by Sen. Lindsey Graham, will hear testimony, from the original co-sponsors of the CARERS Act, Sens. Corey Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as representatives of NIDA and the FDA, about marijuana research.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday on “Researching the Potential Medical Benefits and Risks of Marijuana.”

Testimony will be heard from Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), who are original co-sponsors of medical marijuana legislation introduced last year in the Senate known as the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS) Act. Other scheduled witnesses include officials from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), among others.

“Laws recognizing the medical value of marijuana have been adopted in more than 40 states, two U.S. territories, and our nation’s capital,” said Robert Capecchi, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Federal law should reflect the fact that marijuana is effective in the treatment of a variety of debilitating medical conditions. Millions of Americans are using medical marijuana to treat conditions ranging from cancer and AIDS to epilepsy and PTSD. For these patients, the medical benefits are real, and the greatest risks are those associated with federal marijuana prohibition laws.”

“The federal government needs to get its marijuana prohibition policies out of our doctors’ offices and exam rooms,” said Don Murphy, director of conservative outreach for the Marijuana Policy Project. “If a licensed physician examines a patient and believes marijuana would be a safe and effective treatment option, he or she should be able to recommend it to that patient without fear of crossing the federal government. Our federal government trusts medical professionals to prescribe highly addictive and potentially lethal opioid-based drugs. It should also trust them to recommend marijuana, which is far less addictive, poses fewer and less severe side effects, and has never resulted in a single fatal overdose.”

WHAT: U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism hearing on “Researching the Potential Medical Benefits and Risks of Marijuana”

WHEN: Wednesday, July 13, 2:30 p.m. ET

WHERE: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 226, Washington

WHO: Sens. Corey Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand, CARERS Act sponsors

Source: MarijuanaPolicy.org