By Benjie Cooper
IG: @nuglifenews
YouTube: Lucid’s Vlog
On March 10, 2015, Senators Rand Paul [R-KY], Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY], and Cory Booker [D-NJ] introduced a new bill to bring about medical cannabis reform at the federal level. The bipartisan group of Senators rolled out a short piece of legislation known as S.683, the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States Rights (CARERS) Act of 2015.
The CARERS Act was written to move marijuana from Schedule I to a Schedule II status, respect states rights to enact medical cannabis legislation without fear of federal interference, remove cannabidiol (CBD) from the list of controlled substances, and remove banking restrictions and penalties for financial institutions. It was also designed to direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to “authorize VA health care providers to provide veterans with recommendations and opinions regarding participation in state marijuana programs”
But as promising as the bill sounded, it stalled when Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Chuck Grassley (R-IA) refused to hold a hearing on the measure. Chairman Grassley stated that “I oppose moving marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II drug, based on the current science on the risks and benefits. For children suffering from severe epileptic seizures, the anecdotal evidence says components of the marijuana plant might help. I want to help those children. The key is aggressive medical research.”
Grassley wouldn’t be the first politician on Earth to say one thing and then do another, but voicing support for medical marijuana research while at the same time, refusing to hear a bill that would facilitate cannabis studies does appear hypocritical. Moving marijuana to the Schedule II category would put it in the same classification as codeine, morphine, oxycodone, and a lengthy list of other opiates, opioids, stimulants, hallucinogens, and depressants. It’s not the proper designation for cannabis, but it would be a step up from the Schedule I rank that’s been its home for the past forty-seven years. That change alone would allow for, among other things, the possibility of greatly expanded research. With great research comes greater possibility.
But even in apparent defeat, the sponsors of the CARERS Act were not about to admit it. On June 15, 2017, Senators Booker, Paul, Gillibrand, along with Al Franken (D-MN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Mike Lee (R-UT) reintroduced a revised edition of the bill. While the measure carries the same title, there are a couple of fundamental changes that have been made to it since its last introduction in 2015 and should be noted. Language regarding the rescheduling of marijuana disappeared from the document, and protections for financial institutions that work with the medical cannabis industry are also absent from the text.
The CARERS Act calls upon the federal government to recognize modern medical research that has proven the efficacy of cannabis for a variety of mild to severe conditions that affect people of all ages. The document does not request that the DEA reschedule marijuana, but it does ask that states be allowed to make their own policies regarding the medicinal use of the plant as it’s demonstrated that for some, it can be an effective part of their regimen for treating their condition and bettering their quality of life. The newly revised edition of the bill covers four main points.
- Recognize States’ Responsibility to Set Medical Marijuana Policy & Eliminate Potential Federal Prosecution
While over half of the states in the U.S. have enacted medical cannabis legislation, the threat of federal action is always looming. It’s a large reason why some are hesitant to move forward with medical cannabis and associated activities. Just ask the Del Mar Fairgrounds Board of Directors. But as time goes on, and despite saber-rattling from some officials, the federal government seems less likely to step in regarding states who allow medicinal access, especially when their boss-in-chief supports state rights for medical marijuana. In addition to the Rohrbacher-Farr amendment, which removed DEA raid funding, the CARERS Act would finally give much-needed peace of mind to medical cannabis states.
- Allow States to Import Cannabidiol (CBD), Recognized Treatment for Epilepsy and Seizure Disorders
CBD continuously proves itself to be an effective remedy for patients of all ages who experience seizures from any number of associated neurological conditions. To deny patients this very powerful, non-psychoactive medicine that lacks the dangerous, numbing side-effects of other seizure medications makes no sense. Removing CBD from the Controlled Substances Act would allow very needy patients in all states to obtain the very possibly life-saving medicine.
- Provide Veterans Access
Due to the often violent nature of military jobs, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be a common condition among soldiers. The number of veterans affected by PTSD varies by era and other factors, but marijuana is becoming a more commonly used treatment. Because the Department of Veterans Affairs is under federal jurisdiction, they cannot prescribe or recommend medical cannabis to patients whether it is legal in their state or not. This provision of the CARERS Act would allow VA doctors in legal states to recommend medical cannabis to military veterans.
- Expand Opportunities for Research
Due to the plant’s Schedule I status, the federal government currently controls all of the cannabis research in the United States. This last part of the bill points out that the federal government is “lacking woefully behind the majority of states when it comes to how it treats medical marijuana.” The act would help spawn new research by eliminating unnecessary and complicated bureaucratic roadblocks and create a system for the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to encourage research.
On the state level, the medical cannabis movement has achieved such a momentum that federal government now sits in a position where, they could come down with the full force of the Controlled Substances Act, but aren’t likely to. Aside from the fact that federal raid funds are all but nonexistent, medical marijuana prohibitionists are becoming an increasingly unpopular group in modern society because they are viewed as uncompassionate toward sick and dying patients. When over half of the states have voted for something they feel is right, Washington D.C. needs to sit up and take note. These states aren’t rebelling; they’re reforming.
As countless activists and advocates across the fifty United States continuously strive to bring about change in medical cannabis laws, four Republicans and two Democrats are leading the charge to begin bringing about medical cannabis reform in the federal government in 2017. Two years have passed since the original CARERS Act was rolled out and the country has changed in that time. Chuck Grassley is still the Chairman of the Senate Committee, but perhaps with revisions to the document and relevant research published since the measure’s 2015 Congressional debut, perhaps he’ll be inclined to give it a hearing this time around.
In the meantime, interested citizens can call or write their Senator and encourage them to support the CARERS Act. The Capitol switchboard can be reached at 202-224-3121.
