Feds' Weed Not Stony Enough For High-level Research

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FEDS' WEED NOT STONY ENOUGH FOR HIGH-LEVEL RESEARCH
WASHINGTON - Put this in your pipe and smoke it: A University of Massachusetts professor says the medical marijuana grown by the federal government isn't very good. He wants a permit to grow his own pot, saying it will be better for research.
Lyle Craker, a horticulturist who heads the school's medicinal plant program, is challenging the feds' monopoly on legal pot for research. A lawsuit by Craker claims government weed lacks the potency medical researchers need. "The government's marijuana just isn't strong enough," said Richard Doblin, a Craker supporter who heads the Massachusetts-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.
A hearing at the Drug Enforcement Administration is under way this week. Craker alleges there isn't enough pot for scientists across the country to work with. The DEA contends permitting other growers would lead to greater illegal use of the drug and that international treaties limit the United States to one pot production facility. A University of Mississippi lab is the only federally licensed marijuana-growing facility. DEA attorneys said it provides plenty of good pot for researchers.
"Whatever material is needed could be provided under (the) process that is already in place," said Professor Mahmoud ElSohly, who runs the cultivation program, including a 1,200-square-foot "growing room" and a stockpile of about a metric ton. "We have quite a bit of inventory," ElSohly said