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Sounds like the “Industrial Marijuana Revolution” in America seems to be expanding more every day. The Obama Administration has already put in the directive for hundreds and hundreds of pounds of marijuana to be produced for this coming year, well over 30 times the amount originally ordered for 2014- over 1,000 pounds! All of which is going to the purpose of research into the uses as medicine and possible effects as a health risk. At this time under federal law the plant remains illegal and classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning it’s considered one of the “most dangerous” substances with “no currently accepted medical use”. Now both the government, researchers, and physicians all over the country are hard at work trying to change this stigma and evolve the culture of medical marijuana.
Recent Legislation on Medical Marijuana
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a rule this week that adjusts the annual production quota of medical marijuana for the U.S. government to use for its research. The University of Mississippi produces these mass amounts of marijuana, which is utilized by the National Institutes on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to continue the research on the effects of marijuana and its uses in the medical field. The NIDA’s research is in even greater demand recently with the increasing number of states around the U.S. currently considering legislation for the legalization of medical marijuana, and as the gravity of this debate grows there is even more pressure on the federal government to decriminalize the production and consumption of marijuana, and it is sure the necessary data must be obtained. 22 states have legalized the use of medicinal marijuana, and recreational marijuana is now legal in Colorado and Washington. In the coming years it’s been projected that at least another dozen states will be establishing some type of laws allowing use of marijuana in some way or another.
The Re-Up on Raw Materials
This mounting demand means the Obama administration and the government requires much more materials than originally projected. The DEA had originally set out a production quota of 21 kilograms of marijuana for the year 2014 for this implementation, but now this new regulation bumped that quota up to 650 kilograms– approximately 1,430 pounds of medicinal marijuana. The price for a kilogram of marijuana varies from state to state, but typically averages to about $1,000. Priced in this range, the street-value of the government’s updated order equals around $650,000. That’s quite a few tax dollars. Since early 2003, more than 500 grants for marijuana-related studies have been approved and funded through the federal government. Initially, there were only around 22 grants cleared for approval in 2003 for the research of marijuana, totaling around $6 million. However, in 2012, 69 grants were approved for a total of over $30 million. This shows that the noticeable elevation of interest in the growing medical marijuana industry has allowed for plenty of development to this point.
Research For The Future
The new DEA rule says the production increase is necessary to ensure NIDA has enough of the materials with which to conduct its research into the benefits and possible health risks involved in the widespread production and distribution of medical marijuana. There has always been the question of health risk beyond the means that marijuana is used to get high. In order to actually approve cannabis to be used as a medicine the government wants to do all they can to make people aware of the possible risks before its decriminalized or even legalized in any form. One thing is for sure, there is plenty marijuana being produced for the moment, and plenty of people both within the communities and their appointed delegates, doctors, and executives who are pushing for the future of industrial medical marijuana.