DEA VETOES RESEARCH

The Drug Enforcement Administration has vetoed a decision by
Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner, stopping a University of
Massachusetts Amherst medical marijuana research project. The Medical
Marijuana Project, a drug war reform group, said the research was
"vital if marijuana is ever to be an FDA-approved medicine."

Medical marijuana is legal under Nevada state law, and the drug has
been decriminalized as part of an effort by state lawmakers to
encourage marijuana research. Previously, simple possession of any
amount of marijuana was a felony in Nevada, but voter approval of
medical marijuana helped change the stance of lawmakers.

Under the state law, the Nevada School of Medicine was directed to
seek DEA approval of marijuana research.

The DEA, never in love with research, has also been edgy with its
administrative law judges since 1988 when AL Judge Francis Young ruled
after lengthy hearings and research that "the record on marijuana
encompasses 5,000 years of human experience. ... [D]espite this long
history of use and the extraordinarily high numbers of social smokers,
there are simply no credible medical reports to suggest that consuming
marijuana has caused a single death. ... In strict medical terms
marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For
example, eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By
comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to
induce death. Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest
therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of
rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised
routine of medical care."