MED RESEARCH BILL “BETTER THAN NOTHING”

WeedWeek columnist Dan Mitchell discusses the Medical Marijuana Research Act (MMRA) a bill which would lift some of the restrictions on MED research.

• Among other things, the bill would allow the use of state-licensed product for research purposes, as opposes to the notoriously poor product grown at the federally permitted facility at the University of Mississippi.
• The bill is expected to pass the full House of Representatives, but its prospects in the GOP controlled Senate are bleak.
• Bob Solomon of the University of California – Irvine’s Center for the Study of Cannabis, called the bill “better than nothing, but not much better.”
• The MMRA has support from some prohibitionists, such as Kevin Sabet-led group Smart Approaches to Marijuana. They may suspect more research would show that MED isn’t as beneficial as many supporters believe.