Pubdate: Sat, 19 Apr 2014
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2014 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365
Author: Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post

FEDERAL RULES HAMPER MARIJUANA RESEARCHERS

Millions of ordinary Americans are now able to walk into a marijuana 
dispensary and purchase bags of pot on the spot for a variety of 
medical ailments. But if you're a researcher like Sue Sisley, a 
psychiatrist who studies post-traumatic stress disorder, getting 
access to the drug isn't nearly so easy.

That's because the federal government has a virtual monopoly on 
growing and cultivating marijuana for scientific research, and 
getting access to the drug requires three separate levels of approval.

Sisley's fight to get samples for her study - a battle that has 
lasted several months - illuminates the complex politics of marijuana 
in the United States.

While 20 states and the District of Columbia have made medical 
marijuana legal - in Colorado and Washington state the drug is fully 
legal - it remains among the most tightly controlled substances under 
federal law. For scientists, that means extra steps to obtain, 
transport and secure the drug - delays they say can slow down their 
research by months or even years.

The barriers exist despite the fact that the number of people using 
marijuana legally for medical reasons is estimated at more than 1 
million and growing.

Stalled for decades because of the stigma associated with the drug, 
lack of funding and legal issues, interest in research into 
marijuana's potential for treating diseases is heating up. Recent 
studies and anecdotal stories have provided hope that marijuana, or 
at least some of the components of the plant, may have applications 
such as treating cancer, HIV and Alzheimer's disease.

But scientists say they are frustrated that the federal government 
has not made any efforts to speed the process of research. The Drug 
Enforcement Administration has turned down several petitions to 
reclassify cannabis, reiterating its position that it has no accepted 
medical use and remains a dangerous drug. The DEA has said there is a 
lack of safety data and that the drug has a high potential for abuse.

Sisley's study got the green light from the Food and Drug 
Administration in 2011, and for most studies, that would have been 
enough. But because the study is about pot, Sisley faced two 
additional hurdles.

First, she had to apply to the Department of Health and Human 
Services to purchase the research-grade samples from the one farm in 
the U. S. - housed at the University of Mississippi and managed by 
the National Institute on Drug Abuse - that is allowed to grow 
marijuana under federal law. HHS initially denied her application but 
then approved a revised version March 14 - more than four months 
after it was submitted.

Now, Sisley must get permission from the DEA to possess and transport the drug.

DEA spokeswoman Dawn Dearden said the agency is supportive of medical 
research on marijuana but needs to follow regulations under the 
Controlled Substances Act.

"DEA has not denied DEA registration to a HHS- approved marijuana 
study in the last 20- plus years," she said.

Sisley, who began her work with post-traumatic stress disorder while 
at the Department of Veterans Affairs and now works at the University 
of Arizona College of Medicine, said she considers the news from the 
HHS a "triumph" for marijuana research.

"There is a desperate need for this research, but it's impossible to 
study this drug properly in an atmosphere of prohibition," Sisley said.

The cannabis plant was once a staple in U. S. pharmacies, but since 
the turn of the 20th century, some states began to see it as a poison 
and introduced restrictions. Research on its medicinal uses came to a 
virtual standstill.

There are about 150 active researchers who are approved by the DEA to 
study marijuana - a number that has remained steady in recent years - 
but scientists say most are government-funded and focus on the ill 
effects of smoking marijuana rather than on potential medicines.

That's poised to radically change. As more states have legalized the 
use of medical marijuana, a bustling industry of startup drug 
companies and medical groups focused on finding marijuana-based 
treatments has emerged.

Much of the debate surrounding marijuana research is focused on pot's 
classification by the DEA as a Schedule I drug, the most restrictive 
of five categories. Schedule I drugs are considered to have a high 
potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Other drugs in that 
group include LSD, heroin and ecstasy.

The American Medical Association said in November that it does not 
support state medical marijuana efforts and still considers the drug 
dangerous. But it also called on the government to encourage more 
clinical research - by reconsidering pot's classification as a Schedule I drug.

The fact that the Obama administration in recent months has taken 
action to loosen restrictions on marijuana in other regards has 
raised hopes that it will take similar action that will help 
scientists. The Justice Department said last year that it would not 
challenge state laws legalizing marijuana, and in February, the 
Treasury announced new guidelines meant to make it easier for 
cannabis businesses to open bank accounts in states where the drug is legal.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom