(a) Program to be established. — The bureau shall establish and develop a research program to study the impact of medical cannabis on the treatment and symptom management of serious medical conditions. The program shall not include a clinical registrant or academic clinical research center under article fourteen of this chapter.

(b) Bureau duties. — The bureau shall:

(1) Review all serious medical conditions which are cited by a practitioner upon the practitioner’s certification that a patient be granted an identification card.

(2) Create a database of all serious medical conditions, including comorbidities, which are cited by practitioners in the certifications of patients. The database shall also include the form of medical cannabis certified to treat each serious medical condition.

(3) When the database contains twenty-five or more patients with the same serious medical condition, petition the United States Food and Drug Administration and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration for approval to study the condition and the impact of medical cannabis on the condition.

(4) Concurrent with the request to the United States Food and Drug Administration and United States Drug Enforcement Administration, publicly announce the formation of a research study to which a vertically integrated health system and a university within this state may submit a request to participate.

(5) Upon approval of a research study by the United States Food and Drug Administration and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, select a vertically integrated health system or systems to conduct the research study and designate the form or forms of medical cannabis which will be used to treat the serious medical condition.

(6) Notify a patient who has been issued an identification card:

(A) that the patient has been selected to participate, at the patient’s option, in a research study to study medical cannabis as a treatment; and

(B) where the patient may secure medical cannabis through a health care medical cannabis organization at no cost to the patient in accordance with subsection (c).

(7) If the United States Food and Drug Administration and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration reject the proposal for the research study, take all reasonable steps to collect and collate data on the serious medical condition and the use of medical cannabis as a treatment for the serious medical condition and consider submitting an additional request to the United States Food and Drug Administration and United States Drug Enforcement Administration for a research study on the same condition.

(c) Costs. — The cost of the medical cannabis which is dispensed to patients in accordance with an approved research study shall be paid for by the fund.

(d) Geographic accessibility. — The bureau shall take into consideration the geographic location of the health care medical cannabis organization when assigning a patient to a health care medical cannabis organization. The bureau shall make an effort to assign a patient to a health care medical cannabis organization that is located within fifty miles of the patient’s residence.

(e) Data. — Data collected by the health care medical cannabis organization shall be provided to the university participating in the research study for analysis.