Days before President Bush left office in January, his administration fired a parting shot at Professor Lyle Craker's eight-year quest to cultivate marijuana for medical research by abruptly denying him a federal license despite a nearly two-year old Drug Enforcement Administration law judge's recommendation that he receive one.
But the new administration led by President Obama, who has publicly backed the use of marijuana for medical purposes to stave off pain, might reverse the decision and keep Craker's license application from going up in smoke.
A source familiar with the case said the White House will likely demand that the decision be reviewed.
"Basically they want to do an autopsy of what occurred and have it go through a proper review," the source said. [National Journal [3]]
Anonymous sources can be misleading [4], so I called Aaron Houston at MPP [5], who told me the story is true and graciously did not request anonymity.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether the administration's review ultimately results in reversal of the research blockade, but the fact that they're looking into it is a very positive indication. It should prove difficult to examine this issue without seeing it for what it is: a prolonged and transparently dishonest effort to obstruct medical marijuana research by preventing researchers from producing marijuana and denying them access to existing sources.
Given yesterday's reaffirmation of Obama's pledge to respect state medical marijuana laws, it seems that a positive pattern has emerged here. The new administration is re-evaluating the issue from multiple angles and finding that medical marijuana has been mishandled at the federal level in more than one way. It's tremendously encouraging to see the executive branch taking interest in corrupt political obstructionism at the DEA. I'd encourage them to expand the inquiry beyond just medical marijuana.