Federal government admits medical marijuana works on brain tumors but still plans to prosecute patients

In a recent report issued by a U.S. government-funded research group tasked with studying drug abuse and addiction, researchers are now admitting that marijuana is useful in killing off specific types of brain tumors.

A publication from NIDA, revised as of April 2015, states that,

Recent animal studies have shown that marijuana can kill certain cancer cells and reduce the size of others. Evidence from one animal study suggests that extracts from whole-plant marijuana can shrink one of the most serious types of brain tumors. Research in mice showed that these extracts, when used with radiation, increased the cancer-killing effects of the radiation.

This news comes at an awkward time, considering that just this week, an announcement was made by the Department of Justice stating that it will continue to prosecute medical marijuana cases against individuals in defiance of Congress.

So while one government agency is admitting the benefits of marijuana in medical treatments, the Justice Department is pushing forward with prosecuting medical marijuana users in spite of the data substantiating its value.

“It couldn’t be any clearer that marijuana has medical value,” Tom Angell, chairman of the Marijuana Majority, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “When even NIDA and the surgeon general are acknowledging that marijuana can help people who are suffering, it is time for the Obama administration to reschedule the drug. The attorney general can initiate that process today, and there’s no reason for him not to, especially when polling shows that such a huge majority of Americans supports medical marijuana.”

In the Huffington Post, Drug Policy Alliance Director of National Affairs Bill Piper chastised the Justice Department, saying they are defying the will of the voters.

Currently, 23 states and the District of Columbia have laws that legalize and regulate marijuana for medicinal purposes. And 12 states have laws on the books regulating cannabidiol (CBD) oils, a non-psychotropic component of medical marijuana which some parents are utilizing to treat their children’s seizures. Four states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for non-medical use.

Piper also believes “President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder need to rein in this out-of-control agency” and is now calling on Congress to change federal drugs law allowing states to be free to set their own marijuana policies without federal interference.