US Government Permit Growing Of Weed

The US Government has allowed for approved firm to grow Weed for “research purposes”. Previously, the only legal supplier of weed for scientific study was the University of Mississippi. Over 350 researchers are registered to legally examine marijuana effects, but only eight get shipments from the academic institution each year.

With the new regulation now organizations can apply to the DEA to become a registered grower, which the government agency hopes will lead to more FDA-approved research on the drug’s treatment potential.

According to WIRED the DEA’s ruling doesn’t make it any easier for researchers to get access to all these newly-available plants. Jonathan Page founder of Anandia Labs says “When scientists want to start an experiment, they still have to go through the DEA’s extensive regulatory process, then university ethics, licensing to get access to the materials, and by the time you get through all that your research grant has probably expired,”  Even though cannabis is Schedule 2 in Canada, getting permission to study the drug isn’t easy there. “The meat and potatoes of science is funding,” Page says.

The DEA’s decision to allow more federally licensed growers came in response to petitions from the governors of Washington and Rhode Island to reschedule marijuana entirely. “It doesn’t surprise me that the DEA didn’t change,” Mendez says. “What they did change was opening up path for more research, so that leaves me optimistic.”