Short News November 9th 3002

Dr. Donald Abrams Receives FDA Approval for First Human Vaporizer Research
12/5/03 from the e-mail bulletin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

FDA has approved Dr. Donald Abrams' study comparing cannabinoid blood levels, carbon monoxide levels, and subjective effects in human subjects who smoke marijuana and (at a different time) inhale vapors from the same amount of marijuana in the Volcano vaporizer (Here). This historic study will begin in early 2004.

The only remaining milestone that is required before it makes financial and political sense to initiate a major medical marijuana drug development effort is for NIDA's monopoly on the supply of marijuana that can be used in FDA-approved research to be broken. MAPS hopes to accomplish this by either obtaining a DEA license for the UMass Amherst project (most desirable) or by obtaining a DEA permit to import marijuana from the Dutch Office of Medicinal Cannabis (less desirable). DEA is still leisurely reviewing applications for both of these sources of supply.

*Industrial-Hemp has no psychoactive properties following definition of the European Economic Community (EEC); THC content is less than 0.3%. In general, low THC-seed varieties without psychoactive properties are those that have a THC content of less than 1%. (See also No-THC Hemp-seed.) THC= Delta-9 TetraHydroCannabinol.