Marijuana plants growing at a Minnesota Medical Solutions greenhouse in Otsego, Minn. previous year.
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“I am asked as a practicing doctor even in a rural area about medical marijuana use, and I want to make sure I can give patients advice that’s evidence-based”, said Dr. Robert Wergin, board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
At least 25 states in the USA have permitted the use of some forms of marijuana for medicinal use, although others, including Washington and Colorado, have sanctioned its recreational use for adults.
The DEA rejected any possibility of the marijuana moving to Schedule II. Furthermore, the Justice Department under his administration has not interfered with states that have legalized marijuana.
The Drug Enforcement Administration will reportedly allow more universities to grow marijuana for medical research, which up until now has only been allowed at the University of Mississippi.
The announcements will be the latest development in the 46-year legal and policy battle over the status of marijuana.
Right now marijuana is listed as a Schedule 1 substance, on par with cocaine and heroin. But soon the Drug Enforcement Administration will allow other universities to apply to grow marijuana, three government officials said. “This decision is based on whether marijuana, as determined by the FDA, is a safe and effective medicine, and it’s not”.
The DEA is not, however, expected to reclassify marijuana on Thursday.
For medical marijuana proponents it appears that there is one piece of good news.
The DEA said it has never stood in the way of a researcher conducting an FDA-approved study using marijuana from the NIDA-approved supply of the plant.
The DEA also stated there is “high potential” for marijuana abuse that can lead to “severe psychological or physical dependence”.
“Scheduling is a really misunderstood part of drug policy”, said John Hudak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who studies marijuana policy.
‘They’re saying there are no medical benefits.
The decision was announced in a lengthy notice in the Federal Register.
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Experts said that the DEA’s decision Thursday does not change the fact that five states have marijuana legalization ballot initiatives this fall, including Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada. Previously, only one institution – the University of MS – has been allowed to do so, creating a bottleneck for research, with scientists having to wait years to obtain federally-approved samples. That would allow a greater supply and a wider variety of extracts for research. According to the DEA, the regulatory process will remain the same, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse will regulate growers.
