For decades, the University of Mississippi was the only institution authorized by the federal government to cultivate marijuana for U.S. research studies. The university’s School of Pharmacy continues to oversee its cannabis research program through a contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
But given the NIDA’s inherently anti-drug stance, it’s no surprise that most federally sanctioned studies using Ole Miss cannabis have revolved around substance abuse, underage use of marijuana and impaired driving.
Slow and Steady
Since 2016, when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began deciding which organizations could grow cannabis for research, the agency has made slow but notable progress by awarding a handful of bulk-marijuana manufacturing licenses as well as its inaugural cannabis research license.
Recent steps by the DEA, which still works daily to prosecute those in the illicit marijuana space, and the FDA — a notorious foe of CBD producers everywhere — have confounded some in the cannabis industry.
Yet according to several sources who spoke with MJBizMagazine for the July issue, agents from these departments have proved civil if not downright helpful to the newest license holders.
For decades, politicians have told us that they are our best hope for the federal legalization of marijuana. But with individual agencies taking the initiative to regulate cannabis research, could it be that federal marijuana legalization is ringing and the call is coming from inside the house?
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