A research group in Phoenix is now the only site for a clinical study testing the effects of medical marijuana on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The California nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, or MAPS, took steps to start the study last April when the federal government signed off on testing veterans with medical marijuana.
Half the patients were to be treated in Phoenix, with the other half in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins University. The federally-approved medical marijuana arrived this January.
Johns Hopkins withdrew from the study in March. A spokeswoman says the university’s goals didn’t align with the MAPS study.
Brad Burge with MAPS says the Phoenix site will continue the research.
“We were able to transfer almost the entirety of the budget that was allocated to the Johns Hopkins site to the Phoenix site," he said. "We don’t expect it’s going to impact enrollment.”
Burge says about a dozen veterans have signed up for the trial — the goal is 76 veterans, and none had been enrolled through Johns Hopkins.
The decision came after MAPS researchers publicly criticized the access of medical marijuana approved by the federal government for studying.
Brad Burge is with MAPS and says the nonprofit is an advocate for medical-marijuana research.
“We’re having to take this research into our own hands and do it because there’s no for-profit pharmaceutical company interest in developing a non-patent-able plant into a prescription medicine and there’s no [federal] government support for developing marijuana into a prescription medicine,” he said.
Colorado awarded MAPS about $2 million for the research.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been modified to clarify which government Brad Burge was referring to.
