UMass Pot Prof:

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.