Gillibrand, 27 others, urge removal of barriers to medical marijuana research

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), joined by a bipartisan group of 26 Senators and Representatives, today sent a letter urging President Obama to remove barriers to research on medical marijuana and facilitate new medical research on cannabis and its derivatives.

“Twenty-three states have passed laws establishing medical cannabis programs and an additional seventeen have passed laws regarding the medical use of cannabidiol (CBD), a compound derived from cannabis,” the Senators and Representatives wrote in the letter. “Despite these developments, researchers, doctors, and patients in these forty states are still subject to federal barriers impeding innovation and medical research. Until we have comprehensive scientific research on the medical risks and benefits of cannabis and its derivatives, we will continue to debate this issue on the basis of outdated ideology instead of modern science.”

Gillibrand was joined by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith (R-VA), U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN), U.S. Representative John Conyers (D-MI), U.S. Representative Sam Farr (D-CA), U.S Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), U.S. Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA), Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), U.S. Representative Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI), U.S. Representative Jared Polis (D-CO), U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA), U.S. Representative Adam Smith (D-WA), U.S. Representative Dina Titus (D-NV), and U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).