DEA Ruling Makes FDA Approval of Medical Marijuana Impossible
State and Federal Legislation Now Only Hope for Patients

12-13-2004 | Marijuana Policy Project


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In a blow to those who have urged medical Marijuana advocates to seek FDA approval of Marijuana as a prescription drug, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has acted to block the only proposed research project that could lead to Marijuana's FDA approval. In its letter to Lyle Craker, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the DEA appeared to slam the door completely shut on the FDA approval process.

Barring favorable action by the U.S. Supreme Court, the decision leaves medical Marijuana patients with no hope for protection from arrest for the foreseeable future except through state and federal legislation, officials of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) said today.