Sheila Jackson Lee: “While SITSA provides some relief for researchers who already have a schedule I or II registration to proceed with…”

“While SITSA provides some relief for researchers who already have a schedule I or II registration to proceed with schedule A research, SITSA does not provide accommodations necessary to ensure researchers can obtain drug samples for research. Commercial manufacturers are not likely to produce schedule A drugs. Provisions in SITSA intended to ease registration requirements will help little when researchers access the drug material they need to study the therapeutic potential. Here is the main point. The main point is that researchers are researching how to cease the addiction that is killing so many. Low- level sellers are caught up under this bill; and, as indicated by the DEA, they, too, are victims. It is well known that the idea of mass incarceration does not solve the problem of addiction or cause the ending of the tragic loss of life. I hurt for those suffering from addiction, and it is important to be able to utilize our government knowledge to help that end, and the Sentencing Commission has done that. The difficulty we have is whether or not this bill, even though from Judiciary, really bears down on saving lives.…”