MARIJUANA RESEARCH NEEDS CHANGE

Los Angeles Times, Sept. 4: When the federal Department of Health and
Human Services recently issued a request for proposals seeking
competitive applications for the production, analysis and
distribution of "marijuana cigarettes," the request might have seemed
a bit unusual to those unfamiliar with Washington's dance around
cannabis research. The federal government, after all, is not widely
known to support marijuana cultivation.

But those in the know just shrugged. The department has issued
similar requests every few years to select a contractor to conduct
government-approved marijuana research, and with depressing
regularity it has then awarded an exclusive contract to the
University of Mississippi. For 40 years now, Washington has sought
such "competitive applications," and Mississippi "wins" every time.

This rigged contest has successfully thwarted meaningful academic
inquiry into marijuana's medicinal value, without which the debate
over its efficacy is bound to endure. Other studies - not conducted
by the University of Mississippi - have suggested that marijuana has
therapeutic value. But because the United States has discouraged such
research and made it legally difficult to undertake, these studies
have been limited in scope.

Even if the university were running a perfect program, one
institution cannot fulfill the country's research needs.

The deadline for this latest round of applications is Oct. 9. The
government should take the opportunity to break the University of
Mississippi's monopoly and choose a different institution. That step
alone would be a sign that the Obama administration will prioritize
science over politics.