In what the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is calling “an historic shift in federal policy”, the US Department of Health and Human Services has granted it permission to purchase research-grade marijuana for a study of marijuana’s effectiveness in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military veterans.
In a statement on 14 March, MAPS said it had been working for more than 22 years to start marijuana drug development research, and this was the first time it had ever been allowed to purchase marijuana from NIDA, a component of the National Institutes of Health that is the sole provider of marijuana for federally regulated research in the US.
According to MAPS, it took over four and a half months for reviewers at the US Public Health Service, in which NIH resides, to respond to its protocol resubmission made on 24 October 2013. “The study still requires final approval from the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and we are optimistic they will approve the study in a timely manner,” MAPS said. The organization also noted that the study would require funding support.
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