Washington, DC – The College on Problems of Drug Dependence held its annual Advocacy Event on February 27, 2024. More than twenty CPDD members and representatives, representing twelve states, participated in meetings with 32 Congressional member offices.
During the meetings, CPDD members advocated for increased substance use disorder research funding for NIDA, NIDA-specific Report language in committee reports accompanying the Fiscal 2025 Labor, HHS Appropriations bill, support for NIDA’s name change to National Institute on Drugs and Addiction and reducing barriers to research.
Under drug and research funding, CPDD advocated for 2025 funding of $51.3 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) overall and to include a proportionate increase for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
Under reducing barriers to research, CPDD supported legislation reducing barriers to research on compounds in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, including Cannabis and synthetic fentanyl and its analogues, and the research streamlining provisions of the Administration’s proposal for Class-wide scheduling of fentanyl related substances. The Administration’s proposal would; streamline DEA licensing requirements for all Schedule I compounds, create a process to better align schedule I research registration with Schedule II research registration, apply to research funded by HHS, the VA or under an IND exemption from the FDA, require researchers to notify the DOJ 30-days before commencing research, and allow a single registration to cover multiple locations under the control of the same institution with in the same city or country.
CPDD representatives also presented letters written by the Public Policy Committee addressing the funding of Harm Reduction studies and position papers on Cannabis and Psychedelics research issues.
CPDD will host the next CPDD Advocacy Event in February 2025.
For more information or to become involved, contact the CPDD Executive Office by emailing info@cpdd.org.