One of the key U.S. Senate committees has recently stated that the Scheduling of cannabis from the federal level is impeding the amount of research that can be done into life-saving cures or treatments. This battle has been going on for some time now, but it now seems as though cannabis could have a louder voice amongst the U.S.
The Senate Appropriations Committee recently stated that “The Committee is concerned that restrictions associated with Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substance Act effectively limit the amount and type of research that can be conducted on certain Schedule 1 drugs, especially marijuana or its component chemicals and certain synthetic drugs.” This concern has been shared throughout the public for some time now, but it is only as of recent that these committees have been able to help take up this cause. The report further stated that “at a time when we need as much information as possible about these drugs, we should be lowering regulatory and other barriers to conducting this research.”
The scheduling of cannabis under federal law means that the substance as far as the national government is concerned has no medicinal benefits as well as a high rate of addiction. Both of these statements have been refuted many times over by various scientific journals and medical reports, but the federal government has yet to listen to these in a serious way.