DEA Rejects Medical Marijuana Research Lab Request
Posted on: Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 08:39 CST
A researcher's request to open what would have been the nation's second federally approved medical marijuana research lab was flatly declined by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
Lyle Craker, a University of Massachusetts, Amherst horticulturist requested permission to grow the marijuana for research funded by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a California nonprofit that wants to develop marijuana into a legal prescription medication.
DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner recommended in 1997 that Craker's application be granted on the basis that there wasn’t enough marijuana available for research purposes.
Judge Bittner argued that there was "minimal" chance marijuana grown in the proposed lab would be used for non-research reasons.
But the DEA decision called the current supply of research marijuana "adequate and uninterrupted" and said a second laboratory would not be in the public interest.
Marijuana has been used to lower pressure buildup in glaucoma (a potentially blinding eye disease), to reduce nausea from cancer treatments and to prevent AIDS-related weight loss.
The only federally approved laboratory for such research is located at the University of Mississippi's School of Pharmacy, which has grown nearly a hundred varieties of marijuana plants since 1968.
Access to the plants has been limited to researchers who gain federal permits. The plants have been used for clinical studies across the country.
Craker issued a statement saying he was saddened that the DEA is ignoring the best interests of so many seriously ill people who wish for scientific investigations that could lead to development of the marijuana plant as a prescription medicine.
“Patients with serious illnesses deserve legitimate research that might establish medical marijuana as a fully legal, FDA-approved treatment. That effort has been dealt a serious blow,” he stated.
A spokesman for the DEA declined comment on the decision.
“The move is politically motivated and part of a cynical attempt to maintain the Bush administration's elevation of politics over science," said Allen Hopper, the ACLU drug-reform project's litigation director.
Many researchers claim that access to the University of Mississippi’s laboratory supply is thwarted by a contract it holds with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which must approve permits issued by the FDA or the DEA—a process that can often take months to complete.
However, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a Belmont-based drug research group that wants to fund Craker's marijuana cultivation has stated it will file another suit or appeal to the Obama administration.
---
The bud of a marijuana plant grown by George and Jean Hanamoto is seen at their home in the Mendocino County community of Willits, Calif., Wednesday, May 28, 2008. Under a law passed in 2000, allows county residents to grow up to 25 marijuana plants for medical, recreational or personal use. A measure before county voters in the June 3 primary would scale back the law allowing only six plants to be grown. George Hanamoto, 74, who uses marijuana to relieve glaucoma and for back pain, said cutting plant limits would hurt people like him because growing conditions mean he can't always get the maximum out of each plant.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
---
On the Net:
- Drug Enforcement Agency
- University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
- University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
Related Articles
- Dominion Virginia Power's Project Plant It! Helps Plant Equivalent of 85 Acres of New Forest
- Marijuana-like Drug Fights Alzheimer’s
- Marijuana-Like Drug Could Block Pain
- Physiology and Behaviour of Plants Looks at Plants and How They Sense and Respond to Their Environment
- TickleMe Plants - Give the Plant Gift That Moves When You Tickle It!
- Groups Work With Researchers, Drug Cos.
- Amyxa Pharmaceuticals to Develop Novel Anti-Influenza Drugs From Marine Microorganisms and Medicinal Plants
- Scientists: Marijuana Research Illegally Blocked by Bush Administration
- Scientists Say Marijuana Research Blocked
 |
 |
User Comments (2)
| 2. |
Posted by Richard Steeb on 01/17/2009, 10:55 Aside from the fact that any nation with thriving alcohol and tobacco industries lacks the moral authority to issue a stern look at adult RECREATIONAL cannabis use, the obstruction of MEDICAL relief is atrocity. The inclusion of cannabis in CSA Schedule I is in violation of its own criteria, much less common sense. As George Washington instructed his own gardener, "Sow it everywhere"! |
| 1. |
Posted by End the Prohibition on 01/14/2009, 10:58 [Quote]A spokesman for the DEA declined comment on the decision.[/Quote] That is so very typical of the DEA. They are a law unto themselves and answer to NOBODY! It\'s a BIG mistake having the DEA the sole decision maker on the scheduling of marijuana AND the primary enforcer of the prohibition. They use their decision making role to ensure that their enforcement activities are NEVER diminished. This is a clear conflict of interest and is contrary to the best interests of the American people!! Make the DEA accountable for their decisions! YES WE CANNABIS! |
RSS Feeds