SAN MATEO COUNTY WANTS POT STUDY

Redwood City San Mateo County is asking federal officials to approve a
study researching the effects of medical use of marijuana.

The study would involve about 60 patients with cancer and other
illnesses and would be administered by the county's Health Department,
said Supervisor Mike Nevin.

"What we're trying to do from a local level is lead the federal
government to do the research to determine if it's worthy of a
pharmaceutical designation," Nevin said Friday. "I think the evidence
is there."

The application was submitted to the National Institute on Drug Abuse,
which provides marijuana for research purposes, about two weeks ago.

NIDA is expected to make a decision within a few weeks, said Nevin,
who also serves on a state task force studying how to better implement
Proposition 215, which allows patients to have and grow marijuana but
does not address how it is to be distributed.

The Food and Drug Administration would still have to give its own
approval. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, despite ballot
measures approving its use in Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada,
Oregon and Washington.