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Marijuana grown by the US government will now be made available to scientists
for privately funded medical studies. In the past, the government-grown crops
could only be used for the handful of studies sponsored by the National
Institutes of Health. Officials made the policy change in response to the
Institute of Medicine’s call for more research in this area
(This Week, 27 March, p 14),
and medical marijuana proponents say they feel cautiously
optimistic. “These guidelines will make things a little easier than they have
been,” says Chuck Thomas of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington DC.