The only official medical marijuana research facility in the country is about to get mothballed. UCSD's state-funded Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research will reach the end of its 12-year run next year when the money runs out.
Dr. Igor Grant, the center's director, sits down with us for this week's Q&A. He talks about marijuana's now-proven power as a painkiller, the major challenges facing anyone who wants to study marijuana and the debate over medi-pot dispensaries.
The political infighting is "really unfortunate on many levels," he said. "To me, it reflects a real dysfunction, a huge tension in our society about substances of abuse and recreational drug use.
With marijuana, what has happened is that because the subject is so polarized, people are so worried about drug abuse and cartels. What's been lost in the shuffle is the patient and the fact that this may be something useful."
