US Government Growing Enormous Crop Of Marijuana, Largest In 5 Years

The U.S. government is reportedly growing the largest crop of research Marijuana in 5 years, meeting the demands of scientists who are interested in further studying the effects of THC and CBD.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) says it plans to grow 4,409 pounds of Marijuana this year at the University of Mississippi, enough for five million joints, according to the Associated Press.

The University of Mississippi holds the only federal contract for the legal growing of Marijuana, the AP reports.

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The yield will be divided between plants with high levels of THC and plants with high levels of CBD, with many scientists showing a “recent interest (in CBD) as a potential medicine for a number of medical conditions,” NIDIA told the AP.

“We want to study what our patients are using,” University of Colorado Assistant Professor Emily Lindley said.

Federal regulators approved a CBD based drug last year that treats two rare seizure disorders, according to AP. CBD doesn’t get users high, but elicits a host of other healing effects including pain relief qualities, combating of neurological disorders and sleep aid, among other benefits, according to Medical News Today.

Many in the scientific community want the government to distribute licenses to grow research Marijuana to institutions beyond the University of Mississippi. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has created an application process for these licenses but reportedly routinely ignores filed applications, AP reports.

“We are still working through the process and those applications remain under review,” DEA spokeswoman Katherine Pfaff said in an email Thursday, according to AP.