Government
Government stalling medical marijuana study, researchers charge
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 23, 2004
In late July, researchers filed a lawsuit against several government agencies they charge with obstructing medical marijuana research.
Lyle Craker, PhD, the director of the Medicinal Plant Program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is asking the court for help in getting a decision on an application that he filed with the Drug Enforcement Administration in June 2001. He asked for the agency's approval to establish a facility that would produce marijuana for Food and Drug Administration-approved research. Despite an October 2003 letter of support from two senators, Dr. Craker still has not received a response.
The DEA, Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, and National Institute on Drug Abuse are targets of the lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/08/23/gvbf0823.htm.
