For the second time in four years, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is formally proposing regulatory changes to procedures governing the federally licensed manufacture of cannabis for clinical research purposes.
The purported intent of the agency’s new rules is to facilitate clinical investigations of the plant and its active constituents — investigations that are unnecessarily difficult to conduct today because there exists only one federally licensed marijuana provider, the University of Mississippi. But a close inspection of the DEA’s proposed regulations finds that they will likely create more problems than solutions.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be. The DEA possesses an abysmal track record when it comes to enabling scientists to engage in cannabis-specific studies in the United States, in particular research evaluating the plant’s therapeutic efficacy. For instance, in 1988 the agency’s own administrative law judge concluded marijuana to be “one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man,” and demanded the DEA reclassify the plant so that doctors could prescribe it. The agency set aside the decision and refused to act upon the judge’s order.
To read more, click on https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/491530-dea-continues-to-make-empty-promises-on-clinical-cannabis-research