Pubdate: Mon, 7 Sep 2009
Source: Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
Column: Outside Voices
Copyright: 2009 The Spokesman-Review
Contact:  http://www.spokesmanreview.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/417
Note: Outside Voices is a weekly roundup of excerpts from recent 
editorials published in newspapers around the nation. They do not 
necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board of The Spokesman-Review.
Referenced: The Los Angeles Times editorial 
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n834/a09.html
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/University+of+Mississippi
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Lyle+Craker

MARIJUANA RESEARCH NEEDS CHANGE

Los Angeles Times, Sept. 4: When the federal Department of Health and 
Human Services recently issued a request for proposals seeking 
competitive applications for the production, analysis and 
distribution of "marijuana cigarettes," the request might have seemed 
a bit unusual to those unfamiliar with Washington's dance around 
cannabis research. The federal government, after all, is not widely 
known to support marijuana cultivation.

But those in the know just shrugged. The department has issued 
similar requests every few years to select a contractor to conduct 
government-approved marijuana research, and with depressing 
regularity it has then awarded an exclusive contract to the 
University of Mississippi. For 40 years now, Washington has sought 
such "competitive applications," and Mississippi "wins" every time.

This rigged contest has successfully thwarted meaningful academic 
inquiry into marijuana's medicinal value, without which the debate 
over its efficacy is bound to endure. Other studies - not conducted 
by the University of Mississippi - have suggested that marijuana has 
therapeutic value. But because the United States has discouraged such 
research and made it legally difficult to undertake, these studies 
have been limited in scope.

Even if the university were running a perfect program, one 
institution cannot fulfill the country's research needs.

The deadline for this latest round of applications is Oct. 9. The 
government should take the opportunity to break the University of 
Mississippi's monopoly and choose a different institution. That step 
alone would be a sign that the Obama administration will prioritize 
science over politics.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake