Two federal agencies have failed to deliver cannabis reports that were due to Congress. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) did not deliver its report on cannabis research barriers that was due in November, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) just missed a deadline last week to deliver a report on weed’s potential as a medicine.
The DOT report is supposed to analyze research barriers holding up progress on the development of a standardized roadside marijuana test. It was ordered in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The sweeping law funnels money into projects to rebuild roads, bridges and rails, expand access to clean drinking water, introduce universal access to high-speed internet, advance environmental justice policies and invest in low-income communities.
Included in the infrastructure bill was a provision requiring the DOT to work with the U.S. attorney general and the HHS to develop the report, which is supposed to give recommendations to Congress for policies that make it easier for scientists to research retail-level marijuana that is actually sold in dispensaries.
Until recently, researchers were limited to studying weed that was produced at the University of Mississippi under the watchful eye of the federal government. The samples produced at the university are infamously subpar compared to dispensary products and even those found on the black market. That means all previous research that used these samples is unreliable at best and flat out wrong at worst. Finding a standardized roadside test for cannabis impairment should theoretically be much easier if researchers gain access to samples that better represent real-world samples.
Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) sent a letter last year to DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) calling the report a “critical first step,” and asking for an update on the report’s progress.
“Due to the statutory classification of marijuana as a controlled substance, federal researchers face barriers not only to evaluating marijuana’s effects on a driver’s performance, but also in developing tests to accurately detect the amount of THC in a driver’s body or determine a THC impairment level,” Hickenlooper wrote.
It’s unclear if the agency ever answered the inquiry.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was supposed to make the policy recommendations in November—two years after the infrastructure bill was signed into law. But that date has come and gone with no sign of the report.
Meanwhile, HHS just missed the deadline on another weed report. This one was a requirement of the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Expansion Act that was signed into law in December of last year. The law makes it easier for researchers to gain federal approval for marijuana research.
Other than a lack of access to quality weed samples, cannabis’ Schedule I status has made it incredibly tough for researchers to gain access to the drug and virtually impossible to get approval for human trials.
The research bill eased these requirements and removed much of the red tape involved in seeking research approval and gaining Schedule I registration. The legislation allows the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to approve applications for companies to produce cannabis for research purposes. It also requires the attorney general to approve research applications within 60 days or request supplemental information and allows researchers to request larger quantities of weed.
“Research is foundational for the path forward on cannabis policy,” wrote the co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus in a news release. “Research is essential to better understand the therapeutic benefits of cannabis that have the potential to help millions of Americans struggling with chronic pain, PTSD, multiple sclerosis, anxiety disorders and more.”
Part of the law requires HHS to produce a report on the medical applications and health risks of cannabis as well as its impact on the development of adolescent brains. The report is also supposed to identify policies that pose barriers to marijuana research and recommend changes that will remove those barriers, “including whether public-private partnerships or Federal-State research partnerships may or should be implemented to provide researchers with access to additional strains of marijuana and cannabidiol [CBD].”
That report was due Dec. 2, but it has not been published yet.
Neither DOT nor HHS have given an explanation about the delay or provided a future date when the reports will be released, leaving advocates to wring their hands and ask whether these deadlines actually mean anything to federal agencies.
Earlier this year, following an order from President Joe Biden, HHS recommended that cannabis be rescheduled under the Controlled Substances Act from Schedule I to Schedule III. The recommendation was sent to the DEA, which will ultimately decide whether to follow through with the rescheduling. The agency is expected to do so, since HHS has scientific authority.
Like the DOT and the HHS, the DEA has not set a date for its response to the recommendation, and many advocates believe that it’s waiting for the HHS report, since the report will presumably clarify the agency’s motivation behind the recommendation.
If that’s the case, the HHS’s failure to produce the report could further delay the DEA’s decision.
In the meantime, advocates are pressing the Biden administration to speed up the process of rescheduling weed. In a letter that was sent to Biden near the end of last month, a coalition of veteran’s groups called for the president to put pressure on the DEA to conclude its administrative process “in a timely manner.”
“While the significance of cannabis rescheduling is unique to each community, as Veterans, reclassifying cannabis means a better future for those who chose to serve our country,” wrote the groups.Last week, six state governors — but not Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham — sent a letter to Biden calling for the administration to reschedule cannabis before the end of the year.