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longstanding request to grow marijuana at the
University of Massachusetts so it can be tested for medical uses
has been turned down by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The decision was faxed to the university on Friday and made
public yesterday by the Marijuana Policy Project, an independent
group that favors legalization of marijuana, particularly for
medical uses.
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A spokeswoman for the D.E.A. said the agency would have no
comment beyond its order, which gave the university 30 days to
appeal.
The dispute is over marijuana in its smoked or vaporized form.
Capsules of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, one of the plant's
active ingredients, can be prescribed in many states for cancer
and AIDS patients suffering nausea and appetite loss. But
proponents of medical marijuana argue that the inhaled form is
more effective and contains more than 50 active ingredients that
the capsules do not.
In its order, drug agency said the lone government-licensed
marijuana farm, operated by the University of Mississippi, grew
enough for researchers. It said that 18 medical studies using the
drug had been approved since 2000.
But Dr. Lyle E. Craker, the professor of plant biology at the
University of Massachusetts who applied for the license three
years ago, said researchers complained that the government's
marijuana was weak and that it was hard to get permission to use
it.
"We wanted to have a source independent from the government and
with a known potency so doctors can run clinical trials," he said.
Researchers would still have needed D.E.A. permission to work with
the drug.
