Gender identity, marijuana and breathalyzers: 3 unexpected items in the infrastructure bill
3. Clearinghouse for marijuana research
The infrastructure bill calls for the establishment of a “national clearinghouse to collect and distribute samples and strains of marijuana for scientific research that includes marijuana and products containing marijuana that are lawfully available to patients or consumers in a state on a retail basis.”
The clearinghouse would enable researchers in states that have not yet legalized recreational marijuana to obtain “access to samples and strains of marijuana” for “purposes of research on marijuana-impaired driving.”
The would package require the secretary of transportation to collaborate with the attorney general and the secretary of health and human services to release a report with recommendations for “increasing and improving, for scientific researchers studying impairment while driving under the influence of marijuana, access to samples and strains of marijuana and products containing marijuana that are lawfully available to patients or consumers in a State on a retail basis.”
The report on marijuana research is one of several provisions introduced in Title V of Division B, which focuses on “Research and Innovation.”
Division B consists of the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021, one of several smaller pieces of legislation featured in the larger, comprehensive infrastructure bill.
Reports and studies, some of which have little to do with what is commonly understood as infrastructure, are consistently woven throughout the bill.
According to Fox Business, “the word ‘study’ appears more than 300 times in the legislation” while the word “‘report’ appears more than 500 times.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
