I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 127 

To extend the principle of federalism to State drug policy, provide access 

to medical marijuana, and enable research into the medicinal properties 

of marijuana. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. COHEN (for himself and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition 

to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Veterans’ Affairs, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To extend the principle of federalism to State drug policy, 

provide access to medical marijuana, and enable research 

into the medicinal properties of marijuana. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Compassionate Access, 

5 Research Expansion, and Respect States Act of 2019’’ or 

6 the ‘‘CARERS Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FEDERALISM IN DRUG POLICY. 

2 Section 708 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

3 U.S.C. 903) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘No provision’’ and inserting 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (b), no provision’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE WITH STATE LAW.—Notwith10 standing any other provision of law, the provisions of this 

11 title relating to marihuana shall not apply to any person 

12 acting in compliance with State law, as determined by the 

13 State, relating to the production, possession, distribution, 

14 dispensation, administration, laboratory testing, recom15 mending use, or delivery of medical marihuana.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. EXCLUSION OF CANNABIDIOL FROM DEFINITION OF 

17 MARIHUANA. 

18 Section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

19 U.S.C. 802) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (16)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘or cake, or the sterilized’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘cake, the sterilized’’; and 

23 (B) by adding ‘‘, or cannabidiol’’ before 

24 the period at the end; and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(57) The term ‘cannabidiol’ means the sub2 stance cannabidiol, as derived from marihuana or 

3 the synthetic formulation, that contains not greater 

4 than 0.3 percent delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on a 

5 dry weight basis.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. CANNABIDIOL DETERMINATION BY STATES. 

7 Section 201 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

8 U.S.C. 811) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(k) CANNABIDIOL DETERMINATION.—If a person 

11 grows or processes marihuana for purposes of making 

12 cannabidiol in accordance with State law, the marihuana 

13 shall be deemed to meet the concentration limitation under 

14 section 102(57), unless the Attorney General determines 

15 that the State law is not reasonably calculated to comply 

16 with section 102(57).’’. 

17 SEC. 5. RESEARCH. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

20 Human Services shall terminate the Public Health Service 

21 interdisciplinary review process described in the guidance 

22 entitled ‘‘Guidance on Procedures for the Provision of 

23 Marijuana for Medical Research’’ (issued on May 21, 

24 1999). 


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1 (b) LICENSES FOR MARIJUANA RESEARCH.—Not 

2 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

3 the Attorney General, acting through the Drug Enforce4 ment Administration, shall issue not less than 3 licenses 

5 under section 303 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

6 U.S.C. 823) to manufacture and distribute marijuana and 

7 marijuana-derivatives for research approved by the Food 

8 and Drug Administration. 

9 (c) MARIJUANA RESEARCH.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(f) of the Con11 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823(f)) is amend12 ed— 

13 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

14 through (5) as subparagraphs (A) through (E), 

15 respectively; 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘(f) The Attorney General’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘(f)(1) The Attorney General’’; 

18 (C) by striking ‘‘Registration applications’’ 

19 and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(2) Registration applications’’; 

21 (D) in paragraph (2), as so designated, by 

22 striking ‘‘schedule I’’ each place that term ap23 pears and inserting ‘‘schedule I, except mari24 juana,’’; 


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1 (E) by striking ‘‘Article 7’’ and inserting 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(4) Article 7’’; and 

4 (F) by inserting before paragraph (4), as 

5 so designated, the following: 

6 ‘‘(3)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of 

7 enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall promul8 gate regulations that require the Secretary to register a 

9 practitioner to conduct research on marihuana if— 

10 ‘‘(i) the applicant is authorized to dispense, or 

11 conduct research with respect to, controlled sub12 stances in schedules II, III, IV, and V under the 

13 laws of the State in which the applicant practices; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the applicant’s research protocol— 

16 ‘‘(I) has been reviewed and allowed by— 

17 ‘‘(aa) the Secretary under section 

18 505(i) of the Federal Food, Drug, and 

19 Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355(i)); or 

20 ‘‘(bb) the National Institutes of 

21 Health or another Federal agency that 

22 funds scientific research; or 

23 ‘‘(II) in the case of nonhuman research 

24 that is not federally funded, has been volunVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H127.IH H127

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1 tarily submitted by the applicant to, and ap2 proved by, the National Institutes of Health. 

3 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall grant an application for 

4 registration under this paragraph unless the Secretary de5 termines that the issuance of the registration would be in6 consistent with the public interest. In determining the 

7 public interest, the Secretary shall consider the following 

8 factors: 

9 ‘‘(i) The applicant’s experience in dispensing, or 

10 conducting research with respect to, controlled sub11 stances. 

12 ‘‘(ii) Compliance with applicable Federal or 

13 State laws relating to controlled substances. 

14 ‘‘(iii) Conduct by the applicant that may threat15 en the public health and safety.’’. 

16 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

17 102(16) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

18 U.S.C. 802(16)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or ‘mari19 juana’ ’’ after ‘‘The term ‘marihuana’ ’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. PROVISION BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF2 FAIRS HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS OF REC3 OMMENDATIONS AND OPINIONS REGARDING 

4 VETERAN PARTICIPATION IN STATE MARI5 JUANA PROGRAMS. 

6 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Sec7 retary of Veterans Affairs shall authorize physicians and 

8 other health care providers employed by the Department 

9 of Veterans Affairs to— 

10 (1) provide recommendations and opinions to 

11 veterans who are residents of States with State 

12 marijuana programs regarding the participation of 

13 veterans in such State marijuana programs; and 

14 (2) complete forms reflecting such recommenda15 tions and opinions. 

Æ 


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