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Coolguy

Marijuana research a long strange trip
The Republican | 12/19/2005


Lyle E. Craker, a plant and soil sciences professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, applied to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for a permit to grow marijuana in 2001.

What a long, strange trip it's been.

First, the DEA told Craker that it had lost his application. Next, it told him that he did not fill out the forms correctly. And then it dispatched two DEA agents to the Amherst campus to discourage the university.

The DEA took no action on the application for almost three years, until a federal court ordered the agency to respond to Craker's application.

In December 2004, it finally rejected his application because, in part, DEA officials believe it could lead to greater illicit use of marijuana.

As we've noted in this space in the past, it cannot be easy for the federal government to admit that there might be some medicinal use of marijuana after it has been waging an unsuccessful war against marijuana and other illicit drugs for several decades.

Craker, director of the medicinal plant program in the Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences on the Amherst campus, wants a license to grow marijuana for scientific research.

His appeal of the DEA decision was heard last week by an administrative law judge at the ... DEA.

For the record, the DEA lists marijuana as the most frequently abused illicit drug in America, so it would appear that Craker and his supporters still face an uphill battle.

Craker should be allowed to participate in scientific study without government obstruction, whether he is researching goldenseal or marijuana. The administrative law judge should recommend that the DEA approve his application on the basis that his work might benefit the public.

For decades, researchers have known that marijuana relieves pain and nausea associated with cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and other serious illnesses. Yet, because marijuana is still listed as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act, a dangerous drug with no medicinal use, the DEA blocks study by a qualified researcher that might lead to its wider use as a safe, effective and affordable drug.

It sounds like the DEA is blowing a lot of smoke.

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Buzzby

When I saw the source of the article, The Republican, I said, "Oh, no! Not another piece of Republican Reefer Madness propaganda!" Then I saw the Grateful Dead quote and said, "These people have a lot of nerve using a Grateful Dead quote in an anti-marijuana spiel!" Then I read the whole article.

I'm grateful (but not dead) to see some sane attitudes about marijuana coming out of a publication called The Republican.

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TheNewGuy

I'm really glad that they are starting to realize that its just a little odd that the DEA won't allow research of marijuana by qualified scientists, yet the research of opiates for medicinal purposes is no big deal.

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"Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power." ~P.J. O'Rourke

urania3

Cannabis is Schedule I listed. This means that "the drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse, the drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision."

I am not aware of any opioids that are Schedule I listed. Most are Schedule II listed, with a sprinkling in III, IV, and V.

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Why is it that we cannot face the simple truth? Religion is at best unsubstantiated superstition. (Massimo Pigliucci)

freethemind

The DEA and the rest of the LEOs will do what ever they can do to keep marijuana illgeal they make a lot of money. As for a schedule 1 drug I thank cigarettes fail in there somewhere in after all there is no medical anything in cigs and look how E-Z it is to get hooked on them I could go on but I wont you know what I am talking about.

Free The Mind think about it and you will see

 

urania3

Cigarettes are not scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act, so, no, I don't know what you are talking about.

Buzzby

Heroin is on Schedule I.

Cigarettes, coffee, and alcohol are not considered to be drugs and don't fall under the purview of the drug scheduling system.

imported_Peace_Frog

Sorry to get so technical on something that's off topic, but heroin is not an opioid. Opioids are completely synthetic and contain no derivitaves of the opium poppy. Heroin is considered an opiate since it is synthesized from morphine, a derivative of the opium poppy.

urania3

Sorry!

An opioid is any agent that binds to opioid receptors. I specifically chose this word over opiate since opiate is more properly limited to the natural opium alkaloids and the semi-synthetics derived from them.