The Plant Continues To Win House Support As Representatives Vote On Medical Marijuana Research Act

This year will be remembered for several battles cannabis had won.

In November, four more states said yes to cannabis reform. In December, a historic vote was made in the U.S. House of Representatives in favor of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, a bill constructed to remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances and abolish criminal penalties connected to cannabis.

The latest move came this Wednesday when the House passed a bill to reduce barriers and broaden scientific research into medical cannabis.

According to Marijuana Business Daily, the bill will also enable private manufacturing and distribution of cannabis exclusively for research demands.

More research in the space could possibly push more doctors to consider — and advise — medical marijuana treatments, which is expected to bolster medicinal marijuana sales.

Both the MORE Act and the Medical Marijuana Research Act are still waiting for a final decision in the Senate. Unfortunately, many experts in the space think there are slim chances for either of bill to win Senate approval, the report continued.

However, the Research Act sends "a strong signal" to the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden that it should take steps itself to advance cannabis research, Steve Fox, a strategic adviser to the Cannabis Trade Federation, told Marijuana Business Daily.

The passage of the research bill “demonstrates, once again, the strength of support in Congress for reforming cannabis laws," Fox added. "It is frankly outrageous that the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) has blocked effective cannabis research in this country for so long.”