DEA JUDGE SUPPORTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA RESEARCH

WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union applauded a ruling
issued by a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration judge that
recommends ending the federal government's 65- year monopoly on the
supply of marijuana available for Food and
Drug Administration-approved medical research.

The ACLU represents University of Massachusetts-Amherst Professor
Lyle Craker, who petitioned the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) for a license to grow research-grade marijuana for use in
privately-funded studies that aim to develop the plant into a legal,
prescription medicine. The DEA judge ruled that it is in the public
interest to end the federal National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
monopoly on the supply of marijuana that can be used in Food and
Drug Administration (FDA)-approved research.

"For too long the DEA has inappropriately inserted politics into a
regulatory process that should be left to the FDA and medical
science," said Allen Hopper, an attorney with the ACLU Drug Law
Reform Project. "We are pleased that the judge has recommended an
end to the federal government's blockade of medical marijuana research."

The DEA must now either accept or reject the court's recommendation,
and scientists, doctors and medical marijuana patients nationwide
joined the ACLU in urging the agency to comply with the court's
finding and halt federal obstruction of medical marijuana research.

"This ruling is a victory for science, medicine and the public
good," said Professor Craker. "I hope that the DEA abides by the
decision and allows the work to go forward unimpeded by drug war
politics." The ruling issued Monday, Feb. 12 by U.S. Department of
Justice-appointed Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner marks
a major step forward in the six year struggle by Professor Craker to
gain a DEA license to grow research-grade marijuana for use by other
scientists in privately funded, government-approved studies.

Following nine days of hearings, testimony and evidence from both
sides, including from researchers who reported that the government
denied their requests for marijuana for use in FDA-approved research
protocols, Judge Bittner concluded, "that there is currently an
inadequate supply of marijuana available for research purposes" and
that, "Respondent's registration to cultivate marijuana would be in
the public interest."

Thirty-eight members of Congress and a broad range of scientific and
medical organizations have joined Professor Craker in challenging
the federal government's policy of blocking administrative
channels and obstructing research that could lead to
the development of marijuana as a prescription medicine. These
organizations include the Lymphoma Foundation of America, the
National Association for Public Health Policy, the Multiple Sclerosis
Foundation, as well as several state medical and nurses' associations.

Marijuana is the only Schedule I drug that DEA has prohibited from
being produced by private laboratories for scientific research.
Other controlled substances, including LSD, MDMA (also known as
"Ecstasy"), heroin and cocaine, are available to researchers
from DEA-licensed private laboratories, such as the one Professor
Craker plans to establish.

In contrast, NIDA has remained scientists' sole source of marijuana,
despite criticism over the agency's refusal to make marijuana
available for all FDA-approved research into the plant's potential
medical value. The ACLU and others point out that such research
conflicts with NIDA's mission to study the harmful effects of drugs
of abuse. In addition, researchers report that marijuana available
through NIDA is of low quality and variety and is not optimized to
meet FDA standards for prescription drug development.

Professor Craker's proposed facility to grow high-quality medical
marijuana for research purposes will be funded by the
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a
non-profit pharmaceutical company with plans to develop marijuana
into a fully legal, prescription medication.

"For decades, we've been told by the politicians that marijuana has
no proven medical value while scientists have been denied the
ability to prove otherwise," said Rick Doblin, Ph.D., president and
founder of MAPS. "Hopefully, today's decision marks a shift
towards science, not politics, guiding medicine in
America." Despite federal prohibition, 12 states have
enacted legislation protecting patients who use medical marijuana
with a physician's recommendation from prosecution under state law,
and national polls consistently find that roughly 75 percent of
Americans support the use of medical marijuana.

"Today's ruling is an important step toward allowing medical
marijuana patients to get their medicine from a pharmacy just like
everyone else," added the ACLU's Hopper. "That would clear up the
controversies surrounding state medical marijuana laws."

The ACLU is co-counsel in the case, In the Matter of Lyle Craker,
with Julie Carpenter at the Washington D.C. law firm Jenner & Block,
LLP and is assisted by Steptoe & Johnson, LLP.

Judge Bittner's ruling in support of Professor Craker's petition is
available at: www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/medmarijuana/28341lgl20070212.html

Complete background on the case, including client profiles, hearing
transcripts, a full selection of legal documents, and letters of
support from lawmakers and scientists can be found at:
www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/medicalmarijuanafeature/index.html 2-13-07