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WASHINGTON (AP) - The government is violating federal law by obstructing medicinal-marijuana research, scientists contend in lawsuits seeking faster action on applications to grow the drug.
In lawsuits to be filed today, researchers assert that Washington is refusing to act on legitimate research projects and delaying studies that could lead to marijuana's use as a prescription drug.
``There is an urgent need for an alternative supply of marijuana for medical research,'' said Lyle Craker, director of the Medicinal Plant Program at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the main force behind the lawsuits.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the Health and Human Services Department, ``maintains a monopoly on research marijuana. Many researchers believe that NIDA's monopoly is an obstacle to getting needed studies done on a timely basis,'' Craker said in a statement.
The lawsuits, which target the Drug Enforcement Administration, HHS, NIDA and the National Institutes of Health, are being filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Joining Craker in filing the suit are Rick Doblin, president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, and Valerie Corral, co-founder of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz, who uses marijuana to control epileptic seizures.
The case claims an unreasonable delay in acting on a 3-year-old application by the University of Massachusetts-Amherst to grow marijuana for federally approved researchers.
The Mercury News
Wed, Jul. 21, 2004
https://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/9204701.htm?1c
In lawsuits to be filed today, researchers assert that Washington is refusing to act on legitimate research projects and delaying studies that could lead to marijuana's use as a prescription drug.
``There is an urgent need for an alternative supply of marijuana for medical research,'' said Lyle Craker, director of the Medicinal Plant Program at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the main force behind the lawsuits.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the Health and Human Services Department, ``maintains a monopoly on research marijuana. Many researchers believe that NIDA's monopoly is an obstacle to getting needed studies done on a timely basis,'' Craker said in a statement.
The lawsuits, which target the Drug Enforcement Administration, HHS, NIDA and the National Institutes of Health, are being filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Joining Craker in filing the suit are Rick Doblin, president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, and Valerie Corral, co-founder of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz, who uses marijuana to control epileptic seizures.
The case claims an unreasonable delay in acting on a 3-year-old application by the University of Massachusetts-Amherst to grow marijuana for federally approved researchers.
The Mercury News
Wed, Jul. 21, 2004
https://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/9204701.htm?1c
