Scientists Say U.S. Approved Research Has An Anti-Cannabis Bias

Last week, theNational Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicinereleased the most comprehensive report on the science of cannabis to date. While there were some positive takeaways, the report's list of potential risks far outweighed the potential benefits of medical marijuana.

The researchers who wrote the report noticed that discrepancy, too. And they say it has to do with an institutional bias involving cannabis research. Basically, the mandate of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) - the group in charge of okaying or denying cannabis research projects in America - is causing cannabis studies to skew negatively.

"In the United States, cannabis for research purposes is only available through the NIDADrug Supply Program," the report reads. "The mission of NIDA is to 'advance science on thecauses and consequences of drug use and addiction and to apply that knowledge to improveindividual and public health,' rather than to pursue or support research into the potentialtherapeutic uses of cannabis or any other drugs...As a result of this emphasis, lessthan one-fifth of cannabinoid research funded by NIDA in fiscal year 2015 concerns thetherapeutic properties of cannabinoids."

In other words, approximately 80 percent of approved studies in 2015 skewed negative, while only 20 percent looked at the potential health benefits of marijuana.

Researchers concluded that NIDA's "focus on the consequences of drug use and addiction constitutes animpediment to research on the potential beneficial health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids." So we likely won't know the whole story of marijuana's health effects unless the federal government allows broaderresearch.

The report also noted that problems with the cannabis available for research could be skewing studies as well. From 1968-2016,only the University of Mississippi was allowed ...