Most people don’t know that the federal government grows and supplies medical cannabis to four patients enrolled in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program. The program had more patients when it started in the 1970-s, but there are four patients grandfathered into the program that still receive medical cannabis to this day. The cannabis is grown at the University of Mississippi. Considering the federal government’s official position is that cannabis has no medical value, the existence of such a program is a slap in the face to science, logic, and compassion.
Recently the United States government boosted production at the facility. Per Marijuana Business Daily:
Researchers there are hoping to produce 30,000 new plants, which will be used primarily for medical marijuana research. One researcher at the facility is pursuing a study of cannabidiol.
The increase comes after the DEA approved plans to boost the government’s annual production of marijuana from 21 kilograms to 650 kilograms, which equates to about 1,433 pounds.
Why would the federal government fight so hard against medical cannabis at the state level and fight rescheduling cannabis, yet have a program in Mississippi? Conspiracy theorists suggest it’s because the federal government wants to have the monopoly on cannabis research and prohibit the rollout of cannabis as a form of medicine until they can corner the market. I think there’s a lot of logic behind that theory.
It’s time that the feds acknowledged that cannabis is medicine. It’s time that the federal government stepped out of the way and let states handle this issue. Or even better, legalize cannabis at the federal level and be done with it altogether. It’s clearly time for a new approach across the country.
