cannabisnews.com: DEA Rejects Professor's Bid To Grow Marijuana DEA Rejects Professor's Bid To Grow Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on January 12, 2009 at 16:10:03 PT By Andrew Miga, Associated Press Source: Associated Press Washington, DC -- The Drug Enforcement Administration has rejected a petition by a University of Massachusetts-Amherst professor to let him grow marijuana for medical research.DEA spokesman Garrison Courtney on Monday confirmed the agency's ruling, but declined further comment. Horticulturist Lyle Craker in 2001 submitted an application as a marijuana manufacturer to the DEA.A federal administrative law judge in 2007 recommended to the DEA that it grant Craker's application to grow marijuana in bulk for use by scientists in Food and Drug Administration-approved research. The nonbinding ruling said the government's supply was inadequate for medical research.Source: Associated Press (Wire)Author: Andrew Miga, Associated Press Published: January 12, 2009Copyright: 2009 The Associated PressMAPShttp://www.maps.org/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by potpal on January 13, 2009 at 05:42:59 PT police state of mind The DEAth sux. I want my tax dollars back. What a colossal waste. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 12, 2009 at 19:16:47 PT Expanded Associated Press Article DEA Denies Professor's Marijuana-for-Research BidBy Andrew Miga, Associated PressJanuary 12, 2009WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Drug Enforcement Administration has rejected a petition by a University of Massachusetts-Amherst professor to let him grow marijuana for medical research.The DEA's Jan. 7 ruling said Lyle Craker, a horticulturist who heads the university's medicinal plant program, failed to demonstrate that the government's longtime monopoly on producing and distributing the drug for medical research was "inadequate.''DEA spokesman Garrison Courtney on Monday confirmed the ruling, but declined further comment.Craker challenged the government's monopoly on research marijuana. A lab at the University of Mississippi is the government's only marijuana-growing facility.Craker's suit claimed government-grown marijuana lacks the potency medical researchers need to make important breakthroughs. He also alleged there wasn't enough of the drug freely available for scientists across the country to work with.The professor has won support from Massachusetts Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry as well as several other members of Congress.Craker in 2001 submitted an application as a marijuana manufacturer to the DEA.A federal administrative law judge in 2007 recommended to the DEA that it grant Craker's application to grow marijuana in bulk for use by scientists in Food and Drug Administration-approved research. That nonbinding ruling said the government's supply was inadequate for medical research.The timing of the decision and the nearly two years it took to make it were criticized by Rick Doblin, president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit group that does research on psychedelic drugs and whose goal is to develop psychedelics and marijuana into prescription medication."The ruling today is really bad because the Bush administration must be aware that the Obama administration ... has said that science will be used more as a tool for decision making,'' instead of the ideology, said Doblin, whose group sponsored Craker's license application.DEA attorneys have defended the government's marijuana, saying its Mississippi growing center provides adequate quality and quantity for legitimate researchers across the country.Copyright: 2009 Associated Presshttp://wvgazette.com/News/200901120771 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment