State To Promote Expanded Medical Marijuana Research

Reforms to the state’s medical marijuana program will allow Connecticut hospitals, universities, growers and dispensaries to conduct research into medical cannabis, supplementing the limited federal research available on the drug’s palliative effects.

Article by Rusell Blair

The Department of Consumer Protection will begin accepting research proposals Oct. 1. The move is part of a number of changes to the medical marijuana law, including a provision to allow patients under 18 to use the drug.

“The state’s medical marijuana program is not only providing patients suffering from serious diseases, and their doctors, an alternative treatment option, it’s creating good jobs in the state,” Jonathan Harris, commissioner of the agency, said in a statement. “With this new research program, Connecticut could become the focal point for medical cannabis research and add to the strong bio-tech base already here.”

Ethan Ruby, founder and CEO of Theraplant, a medical marijuana grower in Watertown, said in testimony before the legislature’s public health committee that the change in law “will allow us to do even more to find cures and relief for those that are suffering from debilitating conditions and gives Connecticut the opportunity to receive national recognition for the research to be done in this state.”

“This bill will finally open the door to allow much-needed medical research programs to commence,” he said.

There are currently 259 people employed in Connecticut’s medical marijuana industry. That number “could increase significantly” with the introduction of research positions, the Department of Consumer Protection said in a news release.

Research proposals will have to meet a number of specific criteria outlined by the state.

Matthew Katz, executive vice president and CEO of the Connecticut State Medical Society, has been advocating for several years for increased research into medical marijuana. He said the state was taking “a step in the right direction to allow for an increased amount of research in the area of the effectiveness as well as the other aspects of medical marijuana … the side effects and more that really needs to be studied.”

In an interview Monday Harris said Connecticut would be the first state to have “an organized, focused research program.” The federal government classifies marijuana as a schedule one drug, making it difficult to conduct research. Connecticut has reclassified marijuana as a schedule two drug.

There are 13,434 patients registered under the state’s four-year-old medical marijuana program. The state has eight marijuana dispensaries and four growers.