Pubdate: Sun, 31 Aug 2014
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Lauren Raab

FEDERAL MARIJUANA CROPS GET A BOOST

The U.S. government has increased the quantity of marijuana it's 
growing this year to more than 1,400 pounds from the originally planned 46.

The federal government classifies marijuana as a substance that has 
no medical use and is more dangerous than cocaine. But it's willing 
to let researchers have access - under a few conditions.

One condition is that each project needs approval from the Drug 
Enforcement Administration. Another is that researchers get the 
substance from a particular source: the federal government.

The marijuana is grown at the University of Mississippi, which has a 
federal contract to do so for research purposes, said DEA spokesman 
Rusty Payne.

The quotas exist "so we don't have too much of something that could 
get diverted" to unsanctioned purposes, he said.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, which "oversees the 
cultivation, production and distribution of research-grade marijuana 
on behalf of the United States government," said it would need 30 
times more marijuana this year than in the last several years, 
according to the DEA.

The quotas have been higher in the past: nearly 10,000 pounds a year 
in 2005 through 2009.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom