CLINTON TO LIFT RESTRICTIONS, MAKE MARIJUANA AVAILABLE FOR RESEARCH

WASHINGTON -- In a major policy reversal, the Clinton administration is
expected to announce today that it will release its hold on research-quality
marijuana and make it available to scientists who want to study its medical
effects.

For more than 20 years, the production and distribution of marijuana for
clinical research has been restricted under several federal laws and
international agreements, making it all but impossible for nonfederally
funded researchers to obtain it.

Scientists must go through a cumbersome and often bureaucratic process to
get it, which few have successfully tried.

The policy was originally established to ensure uniform quality standards
for marijuana used in research and was generally supported. However, the
substance then became extremely difficult for researchers to obtain.

Under the new policy, which loosens these restrictions, private researchers,
including physicians, will be allowed to buy and use it for studies. A
senior administration official said the change could "open the door" to a
flood of research proposals and studies.

The issue has been the subject of intense national debate and political
pressure. Advocates insist that the laws forbidding the medical uses of
marijuana are cruel and inhumane. Opponents argue that sanctioning marijuana
for any purposes only gives a green light to illegal drug use and would
further encourage it.

The news of a shift in administration policy was welcomed by marijuana
medical advocates who have been clamoring for more research.

"For the last 22 years, the federal government has had a lock on the use of
whole smoked marijuana for studies -- they grow it at the University of
Mississippi ... and activists and reformers and legitimate scientists have
wanted to have access to it to conduct studies and have had no luck," said
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws Foundation.

A senior administration official said the change was supported by Gen. Barry
R. McCaffrey, head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, who has in
the past opposed the medical uses of marijuana.

The official predicted that the accessibility would "increase the likelihood
that we finally get honest-to-God scientific answers on this very important
issue."

The Department of Health and Human Services said researchers seeking access
to the drug must be involved in studies generally following guidelines from
the Institute of Medicine report. They also must pay the government for the
drug.

Such studies would "be expected to yield useful data and therefore, will be
more likely to be eligible to receive marijuana under the HHS program."

There are few NIH-funded studies using marijuana, and only a few individuals
in the country receive government-owned marijuana for medical reasons.