Good news out of Colorado:
Colorado will spend more than $8 million researching marijuana's medical potential - a new frontier because government-funded marijuana research traditionally focuses on the drug's negative health effects.
The grants awarded by the Colorado Board of Health will go to studies on whether marijuana helps treat epilepsy, brain tumors, Parkinson's disease and post-traumatic stress disorder.
This is a huge step. Unlike past research, these studies coming out of Colorado will be focusing on the benefits of marijuana rather than the negative effects.
"This is the first time we've had government money to look at the efficacy of marijuana, not the harms of marijuana," said Dr. Suzanne Sisley, a Scottsdale, Arizona, psychiatrist who will help run a study on marijuana for veterans with PTSD. [...]
Dr. Larry Wolk, Colorado's Chief Medical Officer, says the lack of research on marijuana's medical value leaves sick people guessing about how pot may help them and what doses to take.
"There's nowhere else in medicine where we give a patient some seeds and say, `Go grow this and process it and then figure out how much you need,'" Wolk said.
"We need research dollars so we can answer more questions."
Right now these studies are awaiting federal approval. The projects center around marijuana use for people with PTSD, young adults suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, pain relief for kids with brain tumors, and more. Colorado is funding the studies out of fees paid by its nearly 117,000 medical marijuana patients.
This research could be groundbreaking. Here’s hoping these studies get federal approval to move forward.