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From: NORML Blog, Marijuana Law Reform <br
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Date: Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 9:53 PM
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NORML Blog <http://blog.norml.org/>
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Why Isn’t There More Medical Marijuana Research? Because The Feds Won’t
Allow It, That’s
Why!<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NORMLBlog/~3/uk9Jd-TNIx8/?utm_source=f...>
Posted: 27 Jan 2010 02:39 PM PST
It’s the ‘Catch-22’ that has plagued medical marijuana advocates and
patients for decades. *Lawmakers and health regulators demand clinical
studies on the safety and efficacy of medical cannabis, but the federal
agency in charge of such research bars these investigations from ever taking
place.*
But it took until now for the federal government to finally admit it.
A spokesperson for the U.S. National Institute on Drug
Abuse<http://www.drugabuse.gov/>(NIDA) told
*The New York Times* last week that the agency does “not fund research
focused on the potential medical benefits of marijuana.”
Why is this admission so significant? Here’s why.
Under federal law, NIDA (along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration) must approve *all* clinical and preclinical research
involving marijuana. NIDA strictly controls which investigators are allowed
access to the federal government’s lone research supply of
pot<http://current.com/1rm564c>– which is authorized via a NIDA
contract and cultivated and stored at the
University of Mississippi.
*In short, no NIDA approval = no marijuana = no scientific studies.* And
that is, and always has been, the problem.
But to the folks over at NIDA, there’s no problem at all.
Speaking to *The New York Times* in a January 19, 2010 article entitled,
“Researchers Find Medical Study of Marijuana Discouraged,” NIDA spokeswoman
Shirley Simson said<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/health/policy/19marijuana.html>:
*“As the National Institute on Drug Abuse, our focus is primarily on the
negative consequences of marijuana use. We generally do not fund research
focused on the potential beneficial medical effects of marijuana.”*
Since NIDA presently oversees an estimated 85 percent of the world’s
research on controlled substances, the agency’s ban on medical marijuana
research isn’t just limited to the United States’ borders; *it extends
throughout the planet.*
Previous legal attempts to break NIDA’s bureaucratic logjam have failed to
weaken the agency’s iron grip.
In 2007, U.S. DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner
ruled<http://www.aclu.org/files/images/asset_upload_file116_28341.pdf>that
NIDA’s monopolization of marijuana research is not “in the public
interest,” and ordered the federal government to allow private manufacturers
to produce the drug for research purposes. But in January of last year, *DEA
Deputy Administrator Michele Leonhart set
aside<http://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/drugpolicy/craker_dearejectionofapplic...>Judge
Bittner’s ruling
*– stating that NIDA possesses “adequate” quantities of cannabis to meet the
needs of clinical investigators, and that the agency monopoly on the
distribution of marijuana for research is compliant with America’s
international treaty obligations. (Notably, on January 26, 2010 President
Barack Obama selected<http://www.mainjustice.com/2010/01/26/obama-to-nominate-acting-dea-ch...>Leonhart
to be the DEA’s full time Director.)
Most recently, in November 2009 the American Medical Association’s (AMA)
Council on Science and Public Health
declared<http://americansforsafeaccess.org/downloads/AMA_Report.pdf>,
“Results of short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis
reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in
patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in
patients with multiple sclerosis.”
However, the Council
lamented<http://americansforsafeaccess.org/downloads/AMA_Report.pdf>that
despite these encouraging preliminary results,
* “[T]here is a contrast between the relatively small number of patients who
have been studied over the past 30 years in controlled clinical trials
involving smoked cannabis and survey data from patients with chronic pain,
multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis that indicates a
significant use of cannabis for self management.”*
And just what is the precise reason for this “contrast?” The AMA failed to
specify, but to anyone who has followed this issue, the answer is painfully
obvious.
Nevertheless, the AMA still resolved<http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=8020>,
“[The] AMA urges that marijuana’s status as a federal Schedule I controlled
substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical
research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines.”
But since any future clinical trials would still require NIDA approval —
approval that the agency admits won’t be coming any time soon — it remains
unclear what effect, if any, the AMA’s declaration will have on facilitating
medical marijuana research. If history is any guide, it’s unlikely that the
AMA request — much like the cries of tens of thousands of patients before it
— will have any effect on NIDA at all.
*[FYI... You can also comment on this essay on Alternet.org's newly launched
SpeakEasy blog here<http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/01/27/why-isn’t-there-more-medical-marijuana-research-because-the-feds-won’t-allow-it-tha t’s-why/>
.]*
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David Knowles
Safe Access to Medical cannabis in the US Virgin Islands
Decriminalize possession for
responsible adults
Agricultural Hemp
usvinorml.com
norml.org
safeaccessforamericans.org
www.usvinorml.com
www.norml.org
www.safeaccessforamericans.com
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