As prescribed following the passage of Senate Bill 844, Oregon authorities have announced appointments for a new short-term task force on medical marijuana. The legislation, among other things, established the task force to answer questions about the credibility of existing research on the medical properties of marijuana and to propose solutions to limitations on cannabis research.
The task force will examine the legal barriers to establishing research laboratories and using institutional review boards to monitor and review research. The group will produce a report on a range of issues, from the latest research on medical marijuana to legal obstacles to proposing a location for a research grow site in the state.
The report will also look at the potential for Oregon to collaborate with other states, consider hurdles faced by labs and review boards when it comes to medical marijuana and figure out ways to fund research. Lawmakers also are interested in the possibility of using state or private sector funds to pay for research and establishing a state-run research grow site.
Among the appointees is Dr. David Russo, a local physical medicine and rehabilitation physician and pain management specialist with Columbia Pain Management, PC. Dr. Russo will join a panel of 14 other biomedical experts and scientists. “Doctors thirst for reliable information and solid science to inform decision-making about medical cannabis,” said Russo, “but because of the regulatory issues surrounding cannabis that information is virtually absent.”
The task force was due to deliver its first report and recommendations Dec. 15, but appointees were not announced until last week. Another set of report and recommendations is due Feb. 1.
Columbia Pain Management, PC, is the Gorge’s only comprehensive and interventional pain management center specializing in minimally invasive and non-operative treatment of spinal pain, musculoskeletal medicine, regenerative medicine, and the medical rehabilitation of patients with orthopedic and neurological injuries.
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