US Moves Toward Marijuana Research

May 21, 1999 By PAUL RECER .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- Responding to pressure from scientists and voters, the Clinton administration loosened restraints Friday on medical marijuana research. The move is expected to prompt more studies to see if the drug helps people with AIDS, cancer or eye disease. Scientists with private grants will now be able to get legal marijuana from the government's supply -- grown on a small plot of land in Mississippi to make sure it's all the same strength. Previously, only scientists who had won federal grants had access to that marijuana. And only a few such federal studies have been approved. ``We all thought the time was right'' for the new guidelines, said Steven W. Gust, a special assistant to the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. The new guidelines were created after Cabinet-level discussions among agencies involved in America's war on drugs, including the Department of Health and Human Services, NIH's parent agency, plus the Justice Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gust said. The drug control office, headed by Barry McCaffrey, favors marijuana studies ``as long as they pass a peer review process to make sure the research is good science,'' said Charles Blanchard, the office's chief counsel. McCaffrey has opposed actions by states to permit medical uses of marijuana, claiming that would prejudge serious scientific research. Two recent expert reports recommended more research on marijuana, citing evidence of its possible benefits to some patients. The University of Mississippi grows the government-approved marijuana on 1.8 acres at a closely guarded site. A crop is harvested on alternate years. So far that has been more than enough to supply the few approved researchers, Gust said. If the new guidelines do prompt more research, the agency is prepared to grow more marijuana, opening up additional fields if necessary and planting every year instead of alternate years, Gust said. Under the new guidelines, privately funded researchers conducting ``scientifically valid investigations'' reviewed and approved by the National Institutes of Health will be allowed to purchase the government marijuana. The price for Uncle Sam's pot has not been set, and the drug is not expected to be ready for researchers until December. Many cancer, AIDS and glaucoma patients already use marijuana, often bought illegally on the street. At least six states have passed measures to permit the drug's medicinal use if prescribed by a physician. Federal law, however, bans the drug. And many doctors are reluctant to approve it for their patients because of the controversy over its benefits. The tough federal stance on medical marijuana prompted some doctors in California to get a court injunction to block what they feared would be federal reprisals for prescribing marijuana to patients under that state's compassionate-use laws. Experts found in two recent reports that marijuana for some patients is effective in relieving pain, nausea and vomiting caused by cancer and AIDS. Some glaucoma patients also smoke the drug to help relieve pressure inside the eye. A 1997 report by a National Institutes of Health panel concluded that there is enough evidence about marijuana's benefits to merit further research. Earlier this year, the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, also urged scientific research. The institute also favored compassionate permits for use of the drug by patients who were not helped by other medications. Four federally financed research projects are ongoing, NIDA officials said. Three other proposals failed to get federal money last year. Chuck Thomas of the Marijuana Policy Project said his group is pleased the guidelines will encourage more research, but he said the action will not help patients in pain who need the drug now. ``We're very disappointed that they failed to approve single-patient, compassionate use, as the Institute of Medicine had recommended,'' Thomas said. AP-NY-05-21-99 1643EDT Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.