CARERS Act of 2019

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 consider- ation 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. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Compassionate Access, 4 Research Expansion, and Respect States Act of 2019’’ or 5 the ‘‘CARERS Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H127.IH H127 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 127 IH SEC. 2. FEDERALISM IN DRUG POLICY. 1 Section 708 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 2 U.S.C. 903) is amended— 3 (1) by striking ‘‘No provision’’ and inserting 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 6 (b), no provision’’; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE WITH STATE LAW.—Notwith- 9 standing any other provision of law, the provisions of this 10 title relating to marihuana shall not apply to any person 11 acting in compliance with State law, as determined by the 12 State, relating to the production, possession, distribution, 13 dispensation, administration, laboratory testing, recom- 14 mending use, or delivery of medical marihuana.’’. 15 SEC. 3. EXCLUSION OF CANNABIDIOL FROM DEFINITION OF 16 MARIHUANA. 17 Section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 18 U.S.C. 802) is amended— 19 (1) in paragraph (16)— 20 (A) by striking ‘‘or cake, or the sterilized’’ 21 and inserting ‘‘cake, the sterilized’’; and 22 (B) by adding ‘‘, or cannabidiol’’ before 23 the period at the end; and 24 (2) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H127.IH H127 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 127 IH ‘‘(57) The term ‘cannabidiol’ means the sub- 1 stance cannabidiol, as derived from marihuana or 2 the synthetic formulation, that contains not greater 3 than 0.3 percent delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on a 4 dry weight basis.’’. 5 SEC. 4. CANNABIDIOL DETERMINATION BY STATES. 6 Section 201 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 7 U.S.C. 811) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(k) CANNABIDIOL DETERMINATION.—If a person 10 grows or processes marihuana for purposes of making 11 cannabidiol in accordance with State law, the marihuana 12 shall be deemed to meet the concentration limitation under 13 section 102(57), unless the Attorney General determines 14 that the State law is not reasonably calculated to comply 15 with section 102(57).’’. 16 SEC. 5. RESEARCH. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 18 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 19 Human Services shall terminate the Public Health Service 20 interdisciplinary review process described in the guidance 21 entitled ‘‘Guidance on Procedures for the Provision of 22 Marijuana for Medical Research’’ (issued on May 21, 23 1999). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H127.IH H127 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 127 IH (b) LICENSES FOR MARIJUANA RESEARCH.—Not 1 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 2 the Attorney General, acting through the Drug Enforce- 3 ment Administration, shall issue not less than 3 licenses 4 under section 303 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 5 U.S.C. 823) to manufacture and distribute marijuana and 6 marijuana-derivatives for research approved by the Food 7 and Drug Administration. 8 (c) MARIJUANA RESEARCH.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(f) of the Con- 10 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823(f)) is amend- 11 ed— 12 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 13 through (5) as subparagraphs (A) through (E), 14 respectively; 15 (B) by striking ‘‘(f) The Attorney General’’ 16 and inserting ‘‘(f)(1) The Attorney General’’; 17 (C) by striking ‘‘Registration applications’’ 18 and inserting the following: 19 ‘‘(2) Registration applications’’; 20 (D) in paragraph (2), as so designated, by 21 striking ‘‘schedule I’’ each place that term ap- 22 pears and inserting ‘‘schedule I, except mari- 23 juana,’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H127.IH H127 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 127 IH (E) by striking ‘‘Article 7’’ and inserting 1 the following: 2 ‘‘(4) Article 7’’; and 3 (F) by inserting before paragraph (4), as 4 so designated, the following: 5 ‘‘(3)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of 6 enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall promul- 7 gate regulations that require the Secretary to register a 8 practitioner to conduct research on marihuana if— 9 ‘‘(i) the applicant is authorized to dispense, or 10 conduct research with respect to, controlled sub- 11 stances in schedules II, III, IV, and V under the 12 laws of the State in which the applicant practices; 13 and 14 ‘‘(ii) the applicant’s research protocol— 15 ‘‘(I) has been reviewed and allowed by— 16 ‘‘(aa) the Secretary under section 17 505(i) of the Federal Food, Drug, and 18 Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355(i)); or 19 ‘‘(bb) the National Institutes of 20 Health or another Federal agency that 21 funds scientific research; or 22 ‘‘(II) in the case of nonhuman research 23 that is not federally funded, has been volun- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H127.IH H127 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 127 IH tarily submitted by the applicant to, and ap- 1 proved by, the National Institutes of Health. 2 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall grant an application for 3 registration under this paragraph unless the Secretary de- 4 termines that the issuance of the registration would be in- 5 consistent with the public interest. In determining the 6 public interest, the Secretary shall consider the following 7 factors: 8 ‘‘(i) The applicant’s experience in dispensing, or 9 conducting research with respect to, controlled sub- 10 stances. 11 ‘‘(ii) Compliance with applicable Federal or 12 State laws relating to controlled substances. 13 ‘‘(iii) Conduct by the applicant that may threat- 14 en the public health and safety.’’. 15 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 16 102(16) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 17 U.S.C. 802(16)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or ‘mari- 18 juana’ ’’ after ‘‘The term ‘marihuana’ ’’. 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H127.IH H127 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 127 IH SEC. 6. PROVISION BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF- 1 FAIRS HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS OF REC- 2 OMMENDATIONS AND OPINIONS REGARDING 3 VETERAN PARTICIPATION IN STATE MARI- 4 JUANA PROGRAMS. 5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Sec- 6 retary of Veterans Affairs shall authorize physicians and 7 other health care providers employed by the Department 8 of Veterans Affairs to— 9 (1) provide recommendations and opinions to 10 veterans who are residents of States with State 11 marijuana programs regarding the participation of 12 veterans in such State marijuana programs; and 13 (2) complete forms reflecting such recommenda- 14 tions and opinions. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jan 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H127.IH H127 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS