Pubdate: Tue, 18 Mar 2014
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2014 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Matthew Perrone, Associated Press
Page: A6

STUDY OF PTSD, MARIJUANA GETS FEDERAL APPROVAL

WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government has signed off on a long-
delayed study looking at marijuana as a treatment for veterans with
post-traumatic stress disorder, a development that drug researchers
are hailing as a major shift in U. S. policy.

The Department of Health and Human Services' decision surprised
marijuana advocates who have struggled for decades to secure federal
approval for research into the drug's medical uses.

The proposal from the University of Arizona was long ago cleared by
the Food and Drug Administration, but researchers had been unable to
purchase marijuana from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The
agency's Mississippi research farm is the only federally-sanctioned
source of the drug.

In a letter last week, HHS cleared the purchase of medical marijuana
by the studies' chief financial backer, the Multidisciplinary
Association for Psychedelic Studies, which supports medical research
and legalization of marijuana and other drugs.

"MAPS has been working for over 22 years to start marijuana drug
development research, and this is the first time we've been granted
permission to purchase marijuana from NIDA," the Boston-based group
said in a statement. The federal government has never before approved
medical research involving smoked or vaporized marijuana, according to
MAPS.

A spokesman for the group said organizers have called off a protest
over the stalled study that was planned for later this year.

While more than 1 million Americans currently take medical marijuana -
usually for chronic pain - rigorous medical research into the drug's
effects has been limited, in part due to federal restrictions.

Marijuana remains a Schedule I substance under the federal
government's Controlled Substance Act. That means the drug is
considered a high-risk for abuse with no accepted medical
applications.

In the past NIDA has focused its research on the risks of drug abuse
and addiction, turning away researchers interested in studying the
potential benefits of illegal substances.

Even with the latest green light from the Health and Human Services
department, MAPS and the University of Arizona Professor Suzanne
Sisley must still get approval from the Drug Enforcement
Administration, though they expect that clearance to come more quickly.

Sisley's study will measure the effects of five different potencies of
smoked or vaporized marijuana in treating symptoms of PTSD in 50 veterans.

The Veterans Administration estimates between 11 and 20 percent of
soldiers who served in the recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars have PTSD,
which can cause anxiety, flashbacks, depression and sleep deprivation.
About 7.7 million American adults are estimated to have the disorder.

Physicians have long speculated that marijuana could be used to calm
parts of the brain linked to overstimulation and anxiety, though
little formal research has been conducted.
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MAP posted-by: Matt