Marijuana research could still be difficult after rescheduling
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Marijuana could get easier to study following the Biden administration's move to reclassify it as a less dangerous drug, but scientists say research barriers won't entirely disappear.
Why it matters: Even as most Americans live in states that have legalized marijuana, stringent federal requirements have limited research on its uses and effects.
- Those who've been studying the drug for years say marijuana's reclassification could jumpstart investment and research, but ongoing regulatory and infrastructure hurdles may temper research interest.
- "Symbolically, this is an important time in our history," said Ziva Cooper, director of the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids. "But I'm eager to see how exactly this will be implemented and rolled out."
- Traci Toomey, director of University of Minnesota's Cannabis Research Center, said the initial expectation is: "Maybe some doors will open, but I don't think it's going to be wide open."
Driving the news: The Justice Department last week formally proposed reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug, acknowledging its potential medicinal value and putting it on the same level as prescription drugs like ketamine, testosterone and Tylenol with codeine.
- The Biden administration's move wouldn't legalize marijuana federally, but by taking it out of the same category as heroin and LSD, restrictions around the drug would be removed.
- A federal health department review earlier this year cited "some credible scientific support" for marijuana as a treatment for certain conditions, but critics have questioned the strength of that evidence.
The big picture: Researchers say some aspects of their work certainly won't be as difficult if the federal government finalizes marijuana rescheduling.
- It will be easier to obtain federal research licenses, and researchers won't need to acquire expensive, high-security facilities for storing marijuana.
- The Drug Enforcement Administration would also no longer set quotas on how much of the drug could be produced for research.
- Universities, hospitals and even federal agencies will be more willing to fund clinical trials on marijuana with those hurdles gone, Arizona Public Health Association executive director Will Humble told Axios.
Yes, but: One big unknown is how Food and Drug Administration rules will affect marijuana research.
- Schedule III drugs are usually FDA-approved, but the agency hasn't yet approved marijuana as a treatment for any medical condition, though it's commonly used to ease pain, encourage eating and control nausea symptoms after chemotherapy.
- FDA rules meant to ensure that marijuana used in research remains stable and is free of contaminants like heavy metals or pesticides can also be quite burdensome, Cooper said.
- "This is a real hang-up with the work that we do that won't necessarily go away with the Schedule III status," Cooper said.
Additionally, rescheduling won't immediately expand the limited number of federally approved facilities where researchers can obtain marijuana.
Case in point: Even more than five years after Congress legalized hemp-derived cannabidiol, or CBD, research on the substance — which lacks marijuana's psychoactive ingredient — remains difficult because it's hard to source product that meets federal research standards, Cooper said.
The bottom line: "There's just so much red tape around things that it's very hard to know exactly how this will shift" research, said Valerie Ahanonu, who manages the University of Utah's Center for Medical Cannabis Research.
