Marijuana study in veterans wins federal backing

The federal government has signed off on a long-stalled study looking at marijuana as a treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ decision was hailed as a major victory by marijuana researchers, who have struggled for decades to secure approval for research into marijuana’s medical uses.

The proposal from the University of Arizona was long ago cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, but its researchers had been unable to purchase marijuana from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The agency’s Mississippi research farm is the drug’s only federally-sanctioned source.

In a letter last week, HHS cleared the purchase of medical marijuana by the studies’ chief financial backer, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which supports legalization of marijuana and other drugs.