Under federal law, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse - NIDA - (along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration) must approve all clinical and preclinical research involving marijuana. NIDA strictly controls which investigators are allowed access to the federal government’s lone research supply of cannabis – which is authorized via a NIDA contract and cultivated and stored at the University of Mississippi.
NIDA spokeswoman Shirley Simson said: “We generally do not fund research focused on the potential beneficial medical effects of marijuana.”
NIDA’s monopolization of marijuana research is not in the public interest.