4 ms·

Look, this is absurd. Yes, it's illegal but so what? Plenty of people have MMJ cards, have scanned their ID at a dispensary, or have applied for state cultivati

Look, this is absurd. Yes, it's illegal but so what? Plenty of people have MMJ cards, have scanned their ID at a dispensary, or have applied for state cultivation licenses. The idea that academia is somehow prevented from engaging in this field because it's federally illegal is not credible and it tarnishes the integrity of the field.

deelowe 8y ago
Sure if you completely ignore how research is funded, how one makes a career out of performing research and why research is performed in the first place. Specifically, anyone performing medical research on marijuana is likely to lose any grants they have, is likely to lose their job for putting their employer at risk, is likely to not be able to find future employment for being so cavalier in their research and is likely to not see any meaningful result from their research because the drugs can't be produced in the first place.
- tzakrajs 8y ago
  Those are patriots and leaders if you ask me.
  - deelowe 8y ago
    Not everyone is interested in politics.
Thriptic 8y ago
I agree that it is absurd that we cannot study weed legally. At the end of the day when it comes down to illegal studies, it all comes down to risk tolerance: Is an individual willing to lose their ability to practice academic science (in that they can't get a university position, can't get federal funding, and may have to absorb a felony) in order to perform a study that the government says is not ok? For most people including me, that answer is no. How you choose to proceed is up to you, but I will tell you right now that embarking on such a study will end poorly.
- tzakrajs 8y ago
  > I will tell you right now that embarking on such a study will end poorly. Source?
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - Thriptic 8y ago
    Are you really asking me for a source to prove that being caught doing something massively illegal will result in negative consequences? I'm going to assume that when we talk about running a study, we are talking about using marijuana in humans in a study, meaning a clinical trial. In order to perform a clinical trial with marijuana, by law investigators would need to get an IND (investigational new drug) application approved by the FDA as FDA does not recognize marijuana as a safe and effective drug for any indication. Part of this involves DEA review, and DEA will almost certainly say no. Let's assume for the sake of argument that you do not care about getting approval to run your study. If you do not get an IND approval and you run a clinical trial anyway, your physicians will almost certainly lose their medical licenses, all participants will be subject to multiple criminal offenses, the group will lose all their funding, they be slapped with enormous amounts of fees, and participants will likely lose their university and / or hospital appointments. https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm421163.h.. https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm421163.h.... https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/ucm2681.. https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/ucm2681.... I don't have a concrete example for as to what will happen because to my knowledge no one has been stupid enough to give the FDA the middle finger and run an unlicensed clinical trial. FDA would never let this go unanswered because it would completely undermine their regulatory authority and set a horrible precedent. In effect, this is a perma-ban level offense, and people that do it should expect to get massively punished.
    - tzakrajs 8y ago
      Civil disobedience surely looks stupid through the lens of the oppressor, but perhaps someone with the ability and connections will sacrifice their livelihood to show us how we as a society are sacrificing ours.
soundwave106 8y ago
My understanding is that it is possible, but involves a lot of bureaucratic red tape. (https://www.factcheck.org/wp-content/cache/wp-rocket/www.factcheck.org/2016/04/clinton-on-marijuana-research//index.html_gzip https://www.factcheck.org/wp-content/cache/wp-rocket/www.fac...) I imagine that in some locales, the political climate is such that what Thriptic is saying is quite the reality -- it is much too risky. That being said, with acceptance of cannabis legality growing, there does seem to be a shift where more formal organizations are involved in research, like the CMCR (https://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/ https://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/) mentioned in the Factcheck article. CMCR is located in the University of California in San Diego -- it is not surprising to find out that a formal research base is in a state more politically and legally friendly to cannabis.

deelowe 8y ago

Sure if you completely ignore how research is funded, how one makes a career out of performing research and why research is performed in the first place. Specifically, anyone performing medical research on marijuana is likely to lose any grants they have, is likely to lose their job for putting their employer at risk, is likely to not be able to find future employment for being so cavalier in their research and is likely to not see any meaningful result from their research because the drugs can't be produced in the first place.

tzakrajs 8y ago
Those are patriots and leaders if you ask me.
- deelowe 8y ago
  Not everyone is interested in politics.

Thriptic 8y ago

I agree that it is absurd that we cannot study weed legally. At the end of the day when it comes down to illegal studies, it all comes down to risk tolerance: Is an individual willing to lose their ability to practice academic science (in that they can't get a university position, can't get federal funding, and may have to absorb a felony) in order to perform a study that the government says is not ok? For most people including me, that answer is no. How you choose to proceed is up to you, but I will tell you right now that embarking on such a study will end poorly.

tzakrajs 8y ago
> I will tell you right now that embarking on such a study will end poorly. Source?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- Thriptic 8y ago
  Are you really asking me for a source to prove that being caught doing something massively illegal will result in negative consequences? I'm going to assume that when we talk about running a study, we are talking about using marijuana in humans in a study, meaning a clinical trial. In order to perform a clinical trial with marijuana, by law investigators would need to get an IND (investigational new drug) application approved by the FDA as FDA does not recognize marijuana as a safe and effective drug for any indication. Part of this involves DEA review, and DEA will almost certainly say no. Let's assume for the sake of argument that you do not care about getting approval to run your study. If you do not get an IND approval and you run a clinical trial anyway, your physicians will almost certainly lose their medical licenses, all participants will be subject to multiple criminal offenses, the group will lose all their funding, they be slapped with enormous amounts of fees, and participants will likely lose their university and / or hospital appointments. https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm421163.h.. https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm421163.h.... https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/ucm2681.. https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/ucm2681.... I don't have a concrete example for as to what will happen because to my knowledge no one has been stupid enough to give the FDA the middle finger and run an unlicensed clinical trial. FDA would never let this go unanswered because it would completely undermine their regulatory authority and set a horrible precedent. In effect, this is a perma-ban level offense, and people that do it should expect to get massively punished.
  - tzakrajs 8y ago
    Civil disobedience surely looks stupid through the lens of the oppressor, but perhaps someone with the ability and connections will sacrifice their livelihood to show us how we as a society are sacrificing ours.

soundwave106 8y ago

My understanding is that it is possible, but involves a lot of bureaucratic red tape. (https://www.factcheck.org/wp-content/cache/wp-rocket/www.factcheck.org/2016/04/clinton-on-marijuana-research//index.html_gzip https://www.factcheck.org/wp-content/cache/wp-rocket/www.fac...) I imagine that in some locales, the political climate is such that what Thriptic is saying is quite the reality -- it is much too risky. That being said, with acceptance of cannabis legality growing, there does seem to be a shift where more formal organizations are involved in research, like the CMCR (https://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/ https://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/) mentioned in the Factcheck article. CMCR is located in the University of California in San Diego -- it is not surprising to find out that a formal research base is in a state more politically and legally friendly to cannabis.