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Frostburg, UMES Researchers Seeking Roles In Budding Maryland Medical Marijuana Industry

December 26th, 2015 by WCBC Radio

Even though Maryland is following the lead of 23 other states in setting up a medical marijuana industry, the collective experience of those states has translated to relatively little understanding of how the dozens of active substances within the plant affect health. The Baltimore Sun reports as a result, Maryland will launch what likely will become a multimillion-dollar industry to make a psychoactive drug more available statewide without the benefit of proven information about the health implications.

Research is limited because the federal government classifies the drug in the same category as heroin and ecstasy, and restricts the cultivation of marijuana plants. Scientists need federal approval before launching studies that bring pot into labs and face oversight to ensure the drug doesn't end up in the hands of felons.

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