White House Poised to Allow Universities to Grow Medical Cannabis

President Barack Obama's administration is poised to allow university research on the medical uses of marijuana, ending barriers to the study of what health effects the drug could have.

The New York Times reports the Obama administration's announcement could come as soon as tomorrow.

The decision could have huge consequences in the ongoing debate over pot's usefulness in treating a litany of physical and mental ailments. Oregon voters approved a medical marijuana program in 1998, but few mainstream studies exists because only one school in the nation is allowed to grow it for research purposes: the University of Mississippi.

Yet the decision stops short of removing cannabis from the list of Schedule I narcotics—drugs that have no medical use and are highly addictive, like LSD, ecstasy and heroin.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was widely expected to make a decision this summer on whether marijuana should be removed from the Schedule I list. But recent reports say the DEA will decline to do so.

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a longtime champion of medical cannabis, released a statement this afternoon, praising the research decision but saying it's not enough.

Here is Blumenauer's full statement.

Willamette Week