Colorado Proposed Marijuana Research

Colorado has lead the way in the marijuana movement in America, from medical marijuana to the implementation of one of the first legalization initiatives which was passed in 2012. Staying true to form, the state of Colorado will invest more than $8 million for the research of marijuana's medical potential, stating that government-funded marijuana research has historically directed their area of study towards the negative health effects of marijuana, the Associated Press reports.

The proposed research will be funded by grants awarded by the Colorado Board of Health and the studies will focus on whether or not marijuana actually has any medical benefits. Some of the studies will research marijuana's efficacy in treating epilepsy, brain tumors, Parkinson's disease and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"This is the first time we've had government money to look at the efficacy of marijuana, not the harms of marijuana," said a Scottsdale, Arizona psychiatrist Dr. Suzanne Sisley. Working in private practice, Sisley will help run a study on marijuana for veterans with PTSD.

In the past it has been difficult to study the medical applications of marijuana because under federal law, the drug is considered to have no medical use. Despite there being twenty-three states and Washington, D.C. allowing the use of marijuana use for treating a number of medical conditions, the only federally legal place to obtain marijuana is from the Marijuana Research Project at the University of Mississippi, according to the article.

In order for researchers to run a federally approved marijuana study, permission is needed from: the Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and either the National Institutes of Health or the Department of Health and Human Services.

The lack of marijuana research means that sick people are on their own for determining the appropriate dose of the drug, says Colorado's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Larry Wolk. "There's nowhere else in medicine where we give a patient some seeds and say, 'Go grow this and process it and then figure out how much you need,'" Wolk said.

 Colorado studies in line for approval include:

• Two separate studies on marijuana for treating post-traumatic stress disorder ($3.1 million).
• A study on marijuana's benefits in treating adolescents and young adults with irritable bowel syndrome ($1.2 million).
• A study on using marijuana for relieving pain in children with brain tumors ($1 million).
• A study on how marijuana oil affects pediatric epilepsy patients ($524,000)
• Comparing marijuana and oxycodone for pain relief ($472,000)