DEA loosens reins on medical marijuana research, but activists want more

Our fucking failures of stroke associations should have been in the forefront of the battle to get this reclassified, but I'm sure they did absolutely nothing.
My 13 reasons for marijuana use post-stroke.  If this isn't enough reasons that is precisely the reason you open it up to more research. But no, we have fucking idiots with their heads buried so deep they will never see the light of day.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/medical-marijuana-dea-nida-policy-000000095.html?nhp=1

Groups fighting to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level were disappointed with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s announcement on Thursday that it will keep the plant in the same class of drugs as heroin — despite a growing movement calling for its outright legalization.

The Marijuana Policy Project, a group dedicated to pot policy reform in the U.S., for instance, is disappointed that the Obama administration will not remove the drug’s Schedule I classification, which is reserved for drugs with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” For context, cocaine is classified as a Schedule II drug, as it can be used as a topical anesthetic.

Robert J. Capecchi, director of federal policies for MPP, said the current science clearly shows that there are medical benefits to marijuana use, but federal hurdles make it difficult for researchers to meet the criteria set forth by the federal government.

“They are looking for very specific types of research that could be produced in a replicable way,” Capecchi told Yahoo News. “Unfortunately, the research that they’re looking for was difficult if not impossible to do due to a variety of different barriers that the federal government either has or had in place.”

According to MPP, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has for decades blocked researchers from looking into the potential benefits of marijuana use and interfered with scientific studies that contradicted its “exaggerated claims” about the drug’s harmfulness.

But every smoke cloud has a silver lining. Along with the decision not the reclassify marijuana, the DEA announced that it would expand the number of places that are permitted to grow the drug to study its potential medical uses.

“That’s a small bit of good news and it gives us some hope,” Capecchi said. “It should go a few steps toward getting that robust research that everyone wants to see. … But the research could take years for any of this to come to fruition.”

Up until this point, scientists at the University of Mississippi were the only researchers allowed to grow marijuana for this purpose.

Other research institutions will have to go through several stages before their scientists can start testing the drug. This process includes applying for permission from the DEA, registering, setting up a cultivation center and growing the crop.

“In the meantime, while people are quite literally watching grass grow, there are individuals and businesses across this country that are acting in compliance with state law that are still under threat from federal marijuana prohibition policies,” Capecchi continued.

But every smoke cloud has a silver lining. Along with the decision not the reclassify marijuana, the DEA announced that it would expand the number of places that are permitted to grow the drug to study its potential medical uses.

“That’s a small bit of good news and it gives us some hope,” Capecchi said. “It should go a few steps toward getting that robust research that everyone wants to see. … But the research could take years for any of this to come to fruition.”

Up until this point, scientists at the University of Mississippi were the only researchers allowed to grow marijuana for this purpose.

Other research institutions will have to go through several stages before their scientists can start testing the drug. This process includes applying for permission from the DEA, registering, setting up a cultivation center and growing the crop.

“In the meantime, while people are quite literally watching grass grow, there are individuals and businesses across this country that are acting in compliance with state law that are still under threat from federal marijuana prohibition policies,” Capecchi continued.

More at link.