Sunday, September 14, 2014

University of Mississippi is the Only Government Funded Marijuana Farm

The University of Mississippi and the Only Government Funded Marijuana Farm
That's right, a schedule 1 drug funded by the government of the United States for research on treatment. This isn't the only sign that the government knows of the benefit, having a patent of it's own for Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants. (Source)

A grant from National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) have given Ole Miss an opportunity to grow marijuana for HHS approved studies. These studies are conducted around the country for the purpose of finding beneficial and harmful effects and the chemical components of cannabis.

“Developing new drugs and delivery systems, as well as a better understanding of the pharmacology and toxicology of marijuana, is dependent upon a reliable and consistent source of high-quality, research-grade Cannabis, ” said Dr. Mahmoud ElSohly, Marijuana Project director since 1980. “And that’s where we come in—we have a strong program that provides plant material to the research community.”

Ole' Miss has developed new medicines with cannabis, notably with the chemical compound tetrahydrocannabinol THC found in marijuana. The University of Mississippi states that this medicine treats chronic conditions such as nausea from chemotherapy, neuropathic pain and treatment of multiple sclerosis symptoms. UM has a patent and license that gives a pharmaceutical company a THC suppository that gives cancer patients medical marijuana without side effects that other medicine has.

Along with their own grow farm, the University of Mississippi acquires seized marijuana from the DEA and has established a way of fingerprinting the cannabis to trace back it's source. (Source) Elsohly has seen a steady increase in the potency of THC found in the cannabis seized from the DEA. “I was categorically told by the DEA, 'You cannot receive materials from a non-DEA registrant.'" said Elsohly. "I would very much like to be able to get some of the materials available in dispensaries, look at them, analyze them, compare them with everything else around”

Though the DEA and the NIH allow access to the cannabis for reasearch, it is extremely hard to get the approval. Orrin Devinsky, director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at NYU Langone Medical Center said “Physicians can't easily get at it — nor can their patients”.(Source)

Source

No comments:

Post a Comment