II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2400 

To promote cannabis research, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2019 

Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To promote cannabis research, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Expanding Cannabis 

5 Research and Information Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CANNABIS RESEARCH AT THE DEPARTMENT OF 

7 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. 

8 (a) NATIONAL CANNABIS RESEARCH AGENDA.—Part 

9 B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 284 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 409K. NATIONAL CANNABIS RESEARCH AGENDA. 

2 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

3 of the Expanding Cannabis Research and Information 

4 Act, the Director of NIH, in collaboration with the Direc5 tor of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 

6 the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance 

7 Use, shall develop a national cannabis research agenda 

8 that addresses key questions and gaps in evidence, includ9 ing with respect to each of the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) The efficacy of cannabis in providing 

11 therapeutic benefits for certain priority diseases or 

12 conditions, which may include epilepsy, multiple scle13 rosis-related spasticity, chemotherapy-induced pain 

14 and discomfort, using cannabis as an alternative to 

15 opioid analgesics for acute or chronic pain, sleep 

16 apnea, Tourette syndrome, anxiety, post-traumatic 

17 stress disorder, and any other disease or condition 

18 determined to be appropriate and of importance by 

19 the Director. 

20 ‘‘(2) The effect of cannabis on at-risk popu21 lations, including children, older individuals, and 

22 pregnant or breast-feeding women. 

23 ‘‘(3) The long-term effects of cannabis use, in24 cluding dose-response relationship and the connec25 tion between cannabis use and behavioral health. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The clinically appropriate modes of deliv2 ery of cannabis. 

3 ‘‘(5) Public safety considerations related to can4 nabis, including— 

5 ‘‘(A) variation in the potency of cannabis 

6 products; 

7 ‘‘(B) youth access to and use of cannabis, 

8 including marketing, packaging, edible formula9 tions, and flavor options that target youth; 

10 ‘‘(C) risk factors for cannabis misuse; 

11 ‘‘(D) impaired driving related to cannabis 

12 use; and 

13 ‘‘(E) accidental ingestion of cannabis.’’. 

14 (b) SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITIES.—Part A of title III 

15 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 241 et seq.) 

16 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 310B. SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITIES ON CANNABIS USE. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

19 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre20 vention, in collaboration with the Assistant Secretary for 

21 Mental Health and Substance Use, the Administrator of 

22 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Di23 rector of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 

24 shall carry out surveillance activities to collect population25 wide data on cannabis use. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out activities 

3 under this section, the Secretary may collect, as ap4 propriate, with respect to cannabis use— 

5 ‘‘(A) data on— 

6 ‘‘(i) health outcomes, including bio7 logical data; 

8 ‘‘(ii) health care utilization, which 

9 shall include hospitalizations and utiliza10 tion of emergency departments related to 

11 consumption of cannabis, including among 

12 youth; 

13 ‘‘(iii) demographic factors associated 

14 with cannabis use; 

15 ‘‘(iv) the variety of products and deliv16 ery modes used; and 

17 ‘‘(v) other relevant health information 

18 to improve the understanding of cannabis 

19 use in all age groups and sub-populations; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(B) data through public health surveil22 lance systems, surveys, questionnaires, and 

23 databases of health care records, including, as 

24 appropriate, the Behavioral Risk Factor Sur25 veillance System, the Youth Risk Behavioral 


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1 Surveillance System, the Monitoring the Future 

2 health survey, the National Survey on Drug 

3 Use and Health, or the Healthcare Cost and 

4 Utilization Project (or any successor surveys). 

5 ‘‘(2) PRIVACY.—Any data collected under para6 graph (1) shall be collected in manner that protects 

7 personal privacy to the extent, at a minimum, that 

8 is required under applicable Federal and State 

9 law.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. RESCHEDULING OF MARIHUANA. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of schedule I of 

12 section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

13 U.S.C. 812(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (10). 

14 (b) SCHEDULE III.—Schedule III of section 202(c) 

15 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812(c)) is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(f) Marihuana.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN CANNABIS RE19 SEARCH. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title IV of the Public 

21 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284 et seq.), as amended 

22 by section 2(a), is further amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 409L. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN CANNABIS RE2 SEARCH. 

3 ‘‘(a) DESIGNATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of NIH shall 

5 designate institutions of higher education as Centers 

6 of Excellence in Cannabis Research for the purpose 

7 of interdisciplinary research related to cannabis and 

8 other biomedical, behavioral, and social issues re9 lated to cannabis. No institution of higher education 

10 may be designated as a Center unless an application 

11 therefor has been submitted to, and approved by, the 

12 Director of NIH. Such an application shall be sub13 mitted in such manner and contain such information 

14 as the Director of NIH may reasonably require. The 

15 Director of NIH may not approve such an applica16 tion unless— 

17 ‘‘(A) the application contains or is sup18 ported by reasonable assurances that— 

19 ‘‘(i) at least 1 individual employed by 

20 the applicant— 

21 ‘‘(I) is registered under section 

22 303(f) of the Controlled Substances 

23 Act to conduct research with con24 trolled substances in schedule III of 

25 section 202(c) of that Act; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) is an active participant in 

2 the cannabis research activities of the 

3 applicant; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the applicant has not had a reg5 istration to conduct research with con6 trolled substances under section 303 of the 

7 Controlled Substances Act denied, revoked, 

8 or suspended under section 304 of that 

9 Act; 

10 ‘‘(iii) the applicant has the experience, 

11 or capability, to conduct, through bio12 medical, behavioral, social, and related dis13 ciplines, long-term research on cannabis 

14 and to provide coordination of such re15 search among such disciplines; 

16 ‘‘(iv) the applicant has available to it 

17 sufficient personnel and facilities (includ18 ing laboratory, reference, storage, security, 

19 and data analysis facilities) to carry out 

20 the research plan required under subpara21 graph (B); and 

22 ‘‘(v) the applicant has the capacity to 

23 conduct academic courses and train stu24 dents and professionals on appropriate re25 search and knowledge of cannabis; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the application contains a detailed 5- 

2 year plan for research relating to cannabis. 

3 ‘‘(2) GEOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION.—The Di4 rector of NIH shall ensure geographic representation 

5 across the United States in designating institutions 

6 of higher education as Centers of Excellence in Can7 nabis Research. 

8 ‘‘(3) TERM OF DESIGNATION.—A designation 

9 under this section shall be for a period of 5 years. 

10 An institution of higher education may reapply in 

11 accordance with the requirements under paragraph 

12 (1) for a subsequent designation under this section. 

13 ‘‘(b) CANNABIS RESEARCH.— 

14 ‘‘(1) GRANTS OR COOPERATIVE AGREE15 MENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of NIH 

17 may make grants to, or enter into cooperative 

18 agreements with, Centers that have been des19 ignated under this section to expand the cur20 rent and ongoing interdisciplinary research and 

21 clinical trials relating to cannabis research. 

22 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts made 

23 available under a grant or cooperative agree24 ment under subparagraph (A) may be used to 

25 address key questions and gaps in evidence adVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2400.IS S2400

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1 dressed by the national cannabis research agen2 da described in paragraphs (1) through (5) of 

3 section 409K. 

4 ‘‘(2) RESEARCH RESULTS.—The Director of 

5 NIH shall promptly disseminate research results 

6 under this subsection to relevant governmental, aca7 demic, and research entities. 

8 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) CANNABIS.—The term ‘cannabis’ has the 

10 meaning given the term ‘marihuana’ in section 102 

11 of the Controlled Substances Act. 

12 ‘‘(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

13 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

14 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

15 Higher Education Act of 1965.’’. 

16 (b) REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 303(f) 

17 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823(f)) is 

18 amended by adding after the period at the end the fol19 lowing: ‘‘The Attorney General shall register under this 

20 part practitioners at Centers of Excellence in Cannabis 

21 Research designated under section 409L of the Public 

22 Health Service Act to conduct research with marihuana. 

23 No separate registration shall be required for each indi24 vidual employed by a Center of Excellence in Cannabis Re25 search who is conducting research described in subsection 


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1 (a)(1) of that section and in accordance with applicable 

2 State and local laws, nor shall separate registrations be 

3 required for distinct research activities, including research 

4 activities related to distinct constituent compounds of 

5 marihuana or amended protocols. The registration shall 

6 expire on the date on which the entity is no longer des7 ignated as such a Center of Excellence in Cannabis Re8 search under that section. A Center of Excellence in Can9 nabis Research registered under this part may cultivate 

10 marihuana, including any constituent component of mari11 huana, to conduct research under this part if the Attorney 

12 General has determined that the research to be conducted 

13 is for legitimate scientific research and is consistent with 

14 effective controls against diversion. A Center of Excellence 

15 in Cannabis Research may contract with such additional 

16 manufacturers of marihuana registered under this section 

17 to meet the needs of the Center of Excellence in Cannabis 

18 Research to the maximum extent permissible under inter19 national treaties to which the United States is a signatory 

20 and which govern marihuana. Before entering into such 

21 contract, the Center of Excellence in Cannabis Research 

22 shall submit to the Attorney General a request to enter 

23 into the contract that includes information to demonstrate 

24 the experience or capability of the contractor to conduct 

25 such cultivation and assurances that the contractor will 


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1 comply with the provisions of this Act. Not later than 60 

2 days after the date on which the request is submitted, the 

3 request shall be deemed to be approved by the Attorney 

4 General, unless the Attorney General determines that the 

5 granting of such request is inconsistent with the public 

6 interest. A Center of Excellence in Cannabis Research reg7 istered under this section may purchase or acquire com8 mercially available marihuana for the purpose of research 

9 described in section 409L(a)(1) of the Public Health Serv10 ice Act in accordance with the law of the State in which 

11 the transaction occurs. No Federal funds may be used by 

12 the Center of Excellence in Cannabis Research for such 

13 purchase or acquisition.’’. 

Æ 


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