Pubdate: Wed, 02 Jul 2014
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Evan Halper

UNIVERSITY FIRES POT RESEARCHER

Assistant Professor in Arizona Alleges Political Retaliation. Her 
Study of Veterans Is Now in Jeopardy.

WASHINGTON - The University of Arizona has abruptly fired a prominent 
marijuana researcher who only months ago received rare approval from 
federal drug officials to study the effects of pot on patients 
suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The firing of Suzanne A. Sisley, a clinical assistant professor of 
psychiatry, puts her research in jeopardy and has sparked indignation 
from medical marijuana advocates.

Sisley maintains she was fired because her research and political 
crusading created unwanted attention for the university from 
legislative Republicans who control its purse strings.

"This is a clear political retaliation for the advocacy and education 
I have been providing the public and lawmakers," Sisley said. "I 
pulled all my evaluations and this is not about my job performance."

University officials declined to explain why Sisley's contract was 
not renewed, but objected to her characterization.

"The university has received no political pressure to terminate any 
employee," spokesman Chris Sigurdson said. The university embraces 
research of medical marijuana, he said, noting that it supported a 
legislative measure in 2013 permitting such studies to be done on 
state campuses.

On Friday, Sisley received letters from the university informing her 
that her relationship with the school will be terminated as of Sept. 
26. The letters offered no explanation beyond citing university 
guidelines that permit the administration to end its relationship 
with contract employees.

"In accordance with those policies, my decision is final and is not 
subject to further administrative review," Stuart Flynn, dean of the 
university's College of Medicine, said in a memo emailed to Sisley.

In March, the National Institute on Drug Abuse moved to approve 
Sisley's research. The decision came as a surprise because some 
researchers have long accused the institute of hostility to proposals 
aimed at examining the possible health benefits of marijuana.

The approval authorized Sisley to obtain marijuana from a 
government-run farm in Mississippi for a study that was long ago 
given a green light by the Food and Drug Administration.

Activists said the decision reflected a shift in thinking by the 
Obama administration and gave hope to other scientists who have had 
difficulty getting authorization to study how the drug might be 
employed more effectively to treat patients.

But back in Arizona, the research plan disturbed some important figures.

Sisley's study was designed to involve veterans who would use 
marijuana in an observation facility on campus. She had lobbied state 
lawmakers for approval to use state funds collected at medical 
marijuana dispensaries to help pay for the work. When a powerful 
Republican senator maneuvered to block that money, some of Sisley's 
allies began an unsuccessful recall effort.

Sisley said she did not get involved, but university officials were 
irate when some activists she described as "overzealous" put the 
university logo on one of their political fliers.

Sisley said a university vice president ordered her to draft a 
statement outlining all her political activism, which she did.

"I didn't even support the recall," Sisley said. "I thought it was a 
waste of energy."

Sisley still has the option of pursuing her research at another 
university, if she can get a faculty position, but she is pessimistic 
about that possibility.

"Any university president is going to worry about taking me on," she 
said. "Especially at a public university, where you have to rely on 
the good graces of the Legislature. These lawmakers hate me."

Even if she gets another position, the firing will set back her 
study. In addition to federal approvals, Sisley had to work for 
months to persuade the university's independent research board to 
sanction her investigation. That process would start anew if she 
takes her project elsewhere.

"This is just going to delay everything for a year or two," she said. 
"It is just another awful delay for this study."

Officials at the American Civil Liberties Union and the 
Multidisciplinary Assn. for Psychedelic Studies, a California-based 
organization that has sponsored Sisley's marijuana research, are 
exploring options for fighting the university's move.

"What happened here is the repression of science for political 
purposes," said Rick Doblin, president of the psychedelic studies 
association. "It is astonishing in this day and age."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom