Pubdate: Fri, 26 Dec 2014
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2014 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462

520 CANNABIS MEDICAL MARIJUANA

MAPS receives $2 million grant from Colorado for Study of Medical 
Marijuana for PTSD

Last week, fired UA researcher Sue Sisley learned that the Colorado 
Department of Public Health and Environment awarded the psychiatrist 
$2 million to her sponsor, the Multidisciplinary Association for 
Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), for their marijuana study for symptoms of 
post-traumatic stress disorder in 76 U.S. veterans.

According to MAPS, Colorado's Medical Marijuana Scientific Advisory 
Council recommended that MAPS receive the grant in late November. The 
state's decision followed the Council's recommendation, giving MAPS 
the largest of eight grants awarded by CDPHE. All of the other 
grantees are major research universities.

"As the very first public funding that MAPS has ever received in our 
28-and-half-year history, the award clearly shows that attitudes are 
improving about research into the therapeutic benefits of Schedule I 
drugs," said Rick Doblin, MAPS founder and executive director. "It's 
a big step forward for cannabis science and medicine."

The study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of smoked 
marijuana to treat symptoms of PTSD in 76 U.S. veterans, and will be 
the first randomized controlled trial of whole plant (botanical) 
marijuana as a treatment for PTSD.

"With this grant, we are one step closer to determining if and how 
cannabis can mitigate the symptoms of PTSD," said Sisley, one of the 
study's two principal investigators.

"Colorado has brought us one step closer to truly helping our vets. 
I'm grateful to MAPS and everyone who is making this journey with us."

Despite the award and prior Food and Drug Administration and Public 
Health Service (PHS) approval, the study still faces obstacles, most 
importantly the lack of information from the National Institute on 
Drug Abuse (NIDA) about when they will be able to provide the 
marijuana for the study. The U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services' PHS review committee granted MAPS permission to purchase 
the marijuana from NIDA in March 2014, but NIDA has not yet been able 
to provide the marijuana required for the study. NIDA is currently 
the only legal source of marijuana for federally sanctioned research 
in the U.S.

"To end federal obstruction of medical marijuana drug development 
research, the NIDA monopoly needs to end, as does the PHS protocol 
review process for access to NIDA marijuana," said Doblin.

MAPS will also need new Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for 
Sisley's portion of the study after she was fired in June for 
political reasons by the UA. The study will also require clearance 
from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration once the marijuana has 
a delivery date, which MAPS does not expect to be a significant hurdle.

Half of the subjects will be treated by Sue Sisley, and the other 
half by principal investigator Ryan Vandrey at Johns Hopkins 
University in Maryland. Marcel Bonn-Miller of the University of 
Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, will oversee the two 
separate sites as coordinating investigator. Co-investigator Paula 
Riggs, of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, will oversee 
scientific integrity of the study. Blood analysis will be conducted 
at the University of Colorado, Boulder. MAPS will work with the FDA, 
manage and monitor data, maintain drug accountability, and ensure 
that the study follows Good Clinical Practice guidelines.

By Weekly Staff and Contributors
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom