Johns Hopkins backs out of cannabis PTSD study

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Johns Hopkins University has pulled out of a federally sanctioned study on using medical marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder over a disagreement with a research group involved in the study.

Losing Hopkins is a major setback for the research program, which has been approved by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Any findings that show cannabis can be used to treat PTSD could bolster sales of medical marijuana and persuade federal policy makers and the Department Veterans Affairs to approve its use for vets.

According to The Washington Post, the university’s decision was made based on a dispute with the administrator of the study – the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) – over federal drug policy.

Santa Cruz, California-based MAPS recently challenged federal rules dictating that MMJ research must use cannabis grown at a single facility at the University of Mississippi. The National Institute on Drug Abuse oversees that facility, and media reports have called into question the quality of the cannabis. 

Dr. Sue Sisley, who has been at the forefront of the fight to conduct this research, blew the whistle on the allegedly low-quality government marijuana.

MAPS and Sisley will continue to conduct their research at a private lab in Arizona, and researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Colorado will continue to participate.