Washington—Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent letters to the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services urging the agencies to determine whether cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive component of marijuana, should be rescheduled and asking the agencies to clarify their conflicting positions on existing barriers to cannabidiol research.

The senators requested that: “the Department of Justice, in concert with the Department of Health and Human Services, immediately conduct a scientific and medical evaluation of, and provide a scheduling recommendation for, cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive compound derived from the marijuana plant and administered in the form of an oil.”

The senators also requested that the departments work to “determine ways to remove any unnecessary barriers that stand in the way of research into the potential medical benefits of marijuana and CBD.”

Additional Materials:

• Feinstein/Grassley letter to DOJ and HHS, October 20, 2014
• DOJ response letter, January 5, 2015
• HHS response letter, December 16, 2014

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