Like a brick wall blocking medical pot on a federal level, marijuana remains classified in the same category as heroin under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it supposedly threatens lives.
While alcohol kills thousands of people a year and marijuana has rarely or ever been tied to a death, cannabis is considered more dangerous under these nonsensical scheduling guidelines.
Efforts to change marijuana's Schedule I classification by NORML and other activist groups have been ongoing for years. Now, the firing of University of Arizona professor Suzanne Sisley, who had won an approval from the FDA to study the medical effect of marijuana on veterans with PTSD (funded by MAPS), is being closely watched. The study promises to possibly erode marijuana’s Schedule I designation.
The FDA is currently looking into rescheduling marijuana
Nothing is easy, however. Prof. Sisley is now embroiled in a legal fight over U of A’s decision to lay her off just as she was about to begin a controlled trial on 70 veterans with PTSD. Sisley told Dr. Sanjay Gupta in the CNN clip below:
'It appears that the U of A may have buckled under the pressure of some very right-wing lawmakers in Arizona who have gone on record to say that they oppose marijuana research.'
The university contends that other employees not involved in marijuana research also recently received non-renewal notices on their employment contracts, not just Sisley.
"They could never seem to embrace the optics of conducting marijuana research on their campus," the prof disagrees:
Sisley lost her appeal, but plans to reach out to the state Board of Regent in hopes of gaining support. She's also hired a lawyer.
The ruckus over Sisley marked the second setback this year for the study, after Arizona State Sen. Kimberly Yee, a conservative Republican, blocked a move to use $9 million raised from the state’s medical marijuana program to help fund the research.
Speaking in support of the study, Army veteran and Arizona resident Ricardo Pereyda says marijuana helped treat his symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. "It allowed me to get some much needed rest and sleep because I was suffering from insomnia," Pereyda states. "It reduced my anxiety attacks. It just allowed me to regain something that I had lost overseas during my deployment and allowed to me reconnect with those around me."
Sisley's ready to take the study elsewhere: "We will somehow persevere and find a home for this work. So if it's not at U of A it will be somewhere. We are negotiating with several other universities."
Update: Sisely has received a $2 million grant from the state of Colorado to study how marijuana effects soldiers who suffer from PSTD.
