Pubdate: Sun, 06 Jan 2013
Source: Sierra Vista Herald (AZ)
Copyright: 2013 Sierra Vista Herald
Contact:  http://www.svherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1379
Author: Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services

DOCTOR SEEKS OK TO DO MEDICAL POT RESEARCH AT UA

PHOENIX - A University of Arizona physician has taken the first
political steps in her bid to do medical marijuana research at
state-run schools.

Sue Sisley, a specialist in internal medicine and psychiatry, has
formed Americans for Scientific Freedom, which she will chair. The
filing with the Secretary of State's Office will allow her to collect
donations for political purposes.

But Sisley told Capitol Media Services the committee is not designed
to elect legislators who support research or defeat those who oppose
it. Instead, she wants to lobby lawmakers to change the law to let her
do her work at the UA.

Potentially more significant, she also is looking at changes to the
law to let the state health department fund medical marijuana research.

Legislation approved last year was designed to close what some
lawmakers saw as a loophole in the state's 2010 medical marijuana law.
That initiative allows those with a doctor's recommendation to possess
and use up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks.

While the measure banned the drug on public school campuses, it was
silent on the question of state-run universities and community colleges.

Rep. Amanda Reeve, R-Phoenix, said university officials told her they
thought that loophole would run afoul of federal regulations governing
universities which require they forbid students from having illegal
controlled substances.

Reeve said schools that fail to comply faced loss of federal funding
and financial assistance for students.

Gov. Jan Brewer eventually signed the legislation. The problem, said
Sisley, is the UA is now interpreting that law to ban her on-campus
research.

Sisley said she gained approval nearly two years ago from the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration to conduct a study to determine whether
marijuana, in various dosages and methods of administration, can help
combat veterans with post traumatic stress syndrome.

"It's the first randomized control (study) that would be done in
Arizona," she said.

Sisley said her proposal already had been approved by the UA's
Institutional Review Board which must give the go-ahead for research
on live subjects. What's next, she said, is getting approval from the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to sell her the drugs for study.

"Before the governor signed that ban about marijuana on campus, we
were assuming that our study was going to be conducted on the
university campus, which is the only real safe and appropriate forum
for that," Sisley said. "I need to be in a place where my patients and
my staff can feel safe."

Then the university sent her plan packing.

"Our policy is to comply with state law, which would prohibit
conducting research using medical marijuana on institutional
property," said UA spokesman Johnny Cruz.

Reeve called that position a surprise, saying she talked with
university officials while her measure was being considered last session.

"They said this doesn't impact medical research or studies being
done," she told Capitol Media Services. "It only impacts the use of
it."

Katie Paquet, spokeswoman for the state Board of Regents, which
lobbied for the measure, said she could not comment on what was or was
not told to Reeve. But Paquet echoed Cruz' position that the law,
unless changed, makes on-campus research unacceptable.

Gubernatorial press aide Matthew Benson said his boss is willing to
take another look at the issue. "If there is legitimate, federally
approved research that would be hampered by this law, the governor is
willing to consider changes to the statute this session," he said.

Clearing up the question of where Sisley can do the research is only
part of the problem. She still is looking for the approximately
$250,000 she needs, most to pay what the DEA charges researchers for
marijuana.

That, too, might be remedied by another change in law allowing state
funding.

The Department of Health Services is required every year to consider
petitions to expand the list of medical conditions for which marijuana
can legally be recommended.

Health Director Will Humble weighed a half-dozen of them last year -
including one supported by Sisley for adding PTSD - but rejected all
of them after concluding there is insufficient professional research
on whether marijuana is an effective treatment.

Humble said he would like to have good research. And he said his
agency has about $5 million in the medical marijuana fund, money left
over after processing all the applications for dispensaries and user
cards.

But the health director questioned whether the 2010 law lets him to
use any of that to fund the research he needs to review the petitions.

Humble said the best bet would be for Sisley and others to get
lawmakers to allow him to give up to $1 million a year to the Arizona
Biomedical Research Commission which already provides medical research
grants. Humble said the law could be altered to permit research into
whether there are legitimate medical uses for marijuana.

The Arizona Constitution prohibits lawmakers from repealing or making
major changes in any voter-approved law.

That is why Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, is proposing to put
the Medical Marijuana Act back on the 2014 ballot to see if voters are
willing to repeal it.

But the Constitution does permit lawmakers to make changes that
"further the purpose" of the underlying measure. And a case could be
made that doing research into what medical conditions can be helped by
marijuana fits that requirement.

Humble said other changes in the law may be appropriate.

He noted that every time someone buys a controlled substance like an
opiate from a drug store, there's a record made. There also are
similar records for medical marijuana sales from dispensaries.

Humble said he wants to see if people who complain of chronic pain who
now can buy marijuana reduce the amount of opiates they buy. He said
that should provide some evidence of whether marijuana, generally
considered less dangerous, may be a better alternative.

But Humble said current law prohibits anything in those purchase
records from being disclosed, even to his own researchers. He said the
statute should be amended to permit such work.

Similarly, Humble wants access to the centralized trauma registry to
determine if those who use medical marijuana are more or less likely
to get into car accidents. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D