Predating the pyramids, marijuana has a long history of usage as medicine. Colorado has raised $10 million as a part of the tax revenue that was gathered from the sale of medical marijuana over the past few years. The money is finally starting to go out to various researchers and institutions, which have likely frantically been writing grants and pouring over the marijuana research literature.
Part of the money is going to a study on the effects of marijuana on veterans who suffer from PTSD. The project had a falling out with the University of Arizona, and much of the project now resides at the University of Colorado at Denver. This is only a fraction of the money being raised. Green House Seed Co. would probably love to offer up some seeds for examples.
As Many as 10 Research Projects
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is accepting applications to be reviewed by a Scientific Advisory Council. The maximum grant rewarded is set at $2 million, as the program intends to fun roughly 10 projects with the $9 million dollars available. It appears the Department gets it’s cut for administration of the process.
Winners of the grants will be announced on December 17th, for some it will be like Christmas came early and for others it will be harder to stay in good spirits. Either way it will be an important step forward for the medical marijuana movement. Research trends have historically been in favor of marijuana as a serious medicine and it is likely the trend will continue.
Interest in the funding is not just from American researchers either. A question in the frequently asked questions page of their website indicates that some researchers will be allowed to work with American researchers, but cannot get funding alone. Hopefully those with good ideas from around the globe will be willing to collaborate in these studies.
DEA Decides to Grow More Pot
This news is just one example of the increased US research of medical marijuana. About a month ago the U.S. Government decided that it was going to grow 1,400 pounds of marijuana this year, a year to year increase of 3043%. The marijuana is bound for research groups across the country, perhaps some bound for Colorado.
According to the LA Times this commitment is a far cry from the 9000+ pounds of marijuana the government was growing between 2005-2009. The government vastly limited its growing quota to close to 46 pounds per year in the last five years. Hopefully this is a sign that the U.S. Government has decided that medical marijuana is not a hoax or an excessively criminal behavior.
