Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Utah State University is not interested in doing research on the effects of medical marijuana on humans, and even if the university had the facilities necessary to grow the controlled substance for research purposes, it would only consider growing it if federal and state laws become untangled.
That was what Mark McLellan, USU vice president for research and dean of the School for Graduate Studies, told The Herald Journal this week in reaction to a new state law that approved medical research of cannabis, cannabinoid products and expanded cannabinoid products on humans.
"This bill, there's no production research," McLellan said. "This is all medical research. This would be something that the University of Utah might explore. But for us, we have no human medical research on controlled substances – none. And we would not expect to start it with this."
McLellan said 35 percent of USU's research deals with human subjects but it does not have anything to do with controlled substances.
"To oversee that kind of work is a heavy, heavy administrative burden, and it wouldn't make sense for us to do that without having a sizable amount of research," said McLellan, referring to research of controlled substances on humans. "It would just be enough additional that, to us, it's not enough to warrant us doing it."
The USU vice president and dean said accomplishing medical research at the university would require physicians who are trained to be researchers.
"You need that to augment your more traditional researchers," McLellan said. "That combination would require us to bring on very different faculty – medical faculty – and we're just not going to go down that path."
Despite not having any interest in doing controlled substance research on humans, USU does conduct research with controlled substances on animals to study animal behavior. USU psychology professor Amy Odum has done at least two studies on animals and how they respond to controlled substances, according to her website.
McLellan said any research regarding controlled substance and animals goes through a lengthy process.
"It goes to a special committee that oversees that, and of course, any of that work with controlled substances has to be approved by the DEA, and then they oversee how we manage the controlled substances," he said.
HB130's sponsor, Rep. Brad Daw, R-Orem, spoke to The Herald Journal about how his bill was crafted. He and supportive medical groups put together a "tightly controlled" bill allowing only for research of "the medical benefits and risks" – not recreational use – of cannabis and cannabinoid products on humans.
He said the purpose of HB130 is to "make sure we're giving doctors research they can trust."
HB130 comes almost three years after the passage of HB105, known as Charlee's Law, which allowed the use of cannabis oil for children with epilepsy and included a provision for higher education institutions to grow industrial hemp for "the purpose of agriculture or academic research."
McLellan said growing cannabis is "the only place USU might fit" when it comes to cannabis research.
A DEA spokesman told The Herald Journal the government does allow the research of marijuana, however, "you must become a DEA registrant with an FDA approved research protocol, and the University of Mississippi is the only source/grower of marijuana for people/institutions conducting research."
According to the institution's website, UM works under a competitive contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, or NIDA, to provide "high-quality marijuana and its constituents to the NIDA Drug Supply Program, which provides them to researchers studying their harmful and beneficial effects."
"Mississippi met all the requirements NIDA and DEA needed for a place to be the sole marijuana source," the spokesman wrote in an email.
McLellan said regardless of the new state law, federal restrictions would still make starting marijuana research at USU a significant undertaking.
"In the case of possession, growth or distribution of marijuana, we are still bound by federal law no matter what a state may choose to enact, even if it is for research purposes," he wrote in an email to the newspaper.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: USU says no to cannabis research on humans; hemp growth a long shot | The Herald Journal | news.hjnews.com
Author: Kevin Opsahl
Contact: Contact Us | news.hjnews.com
Photo Credit: Blair Gable
Website: news.hjnews.com | Cache Valley's Daily Newspaper
That was what Mark McLellan, USU vice president for research and dean of the School for Graduate Studies, told The Herald Journal this week in reaction to a new state law that approved medical research of cannabis, cannabinoid products and expanded cannabinoid products on humans.
"This bill, there's no production research," McLellan said. "This is all medical research. This would be something that the University of Utah might explore. But for us, we have no human medical research on controlled substances – none. And we would not expect to start it with this."
McLellan said 35 percent of USU's research deals with human subjects but it does not have anything to do with controlled substances.
"To oversee that kind of work is a heavy, heavy administrative burden, and it wouldn't make sense for us to do that without having a sizable amount of research," said McLellan, referring to research of controlled substances on humans. "It would just be enough additional that, to us, it's not enough to warrant us doing it."
The USU vice president and dean said accomplishing medical research at the university would require physicians who are trained to be researchers.
"You need that to augment your more traditional researchers," McLellan said. "That combination would require us to bring on very different faculty – medical faculty – and we're just not going to go down that path."
Despite not having any interest in doing controlled substance research on humans, USU does conduct research with controlled substances on animals to study animal behavior. USU psychology professor Amy Odum has done at least two studies on animals and how they respond to controlled substances, according to her website.
McLellan said any research regarding controlled substance and animals goes through a lengthy process.
"It goes to a special committee that oversees that, and of course, any of that work with controlled substances has to be approved by the DEA, and then they oversee how we manage the controlled substances," he said.
HB130's sponsor, Rep. Brad Daw, R-Orem, spoke to The Herald Journal about how his bill was crafted. He and supportive medical groups put together a "tightly controlled" bill allowing only for research of "the medical benefits and risks" – not recreational use – of cannabis and cannabinoid products on humans.
He said the purpose of HB130 is to "make sure we're giving doctors research they can trust."
HB130 comes almost three years after the passage of HB105, known as Charlee's Law, which allowed the use of cannabis oil for children with epilepsy and included a provision for higher education institutions to grow industrial hemp for "the purpose of agriculture or academic research."
McLellan said growing cannabis is "the only place USU might fit" when it comes to cannabis research.
A DEA spokesman told The Herald Journal the government does allow the research of marijuana, however, "you must become a DEA registrant with an FDA approved research protocol, and the University of Mississippi is the only source/grower of marijuana for people/institutions conducting research."
According to the institution's website, UM works under a competitive contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, or NIDA, to provide "high-quality marijuana and its constituents to the NIDA Drug Supply Program, which provides them to researchers studying their harmful and beneficial effects."
"Mississippi met all the requirements NIDA and DEA needed for a place to be the sole marijuana source," the spokesman wrote in an email.
McLellan said regardless of the new state law, federal restrictions would still make starting marijuana research at USU a significant undertaking.
"In the case of possession, growth or distribution of marijuana, we are still bound by federal law no matter what a state may choose to enact, even if it is for research purposes," he wrote in an email to the newspaper.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: USU says no to cannabis research on humans; hemp growth a long shot | The Herald Journal | news.hjnews.com
Author: Kevin Opsahl
Contact: Contact Us | news.hjnews.com
Photo Credit: Blair Gable
Website: news.hjnews.com | Cache Valley's Daily Newspaper
