Since the 1970's the U.S. government has been growing medical cannabis at a facility at the University of Mississippi, both for research purposes and to fulfil it's promise to the federal I.N.D. patients, for "Compassionate Access". While the government marijuana has been proven to be safe and effective (see Missoula Chronic Use Study), the quality is widely recognized to be minimal, with the strongest "bud" material removed, harsh from freeze-drying and containing seeds and twigs.

Video - Seeds and Stems Blues - Irv and Elvy's Legal Marijuana - In April 2008, at our Fifth National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics in Pacific Grove, CA, legal patient Irv Rosenfeld, who has been receiving government cannabis for over twenty-five years, showed a collection of seeds and stems he'd culled from his medicine shipments for several months. This video begins with Irv's demonstration, then another legal patient, Elvy Musikka, critiques the government's product at our 2004 conference in Charlottesville, VA.

Seeing a need for better quality cannabis for research, the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) began the process of challenging the government's monopoly on cannabis production.

Video - NIDA, DEA & Medical Cannabis Research, with Rick Doblin, PhD, MAPS - Founder of the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies, Rick Doblin, PhD, address the Fifth Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics, held in Pacific Grove, CA - April 5, 2008.
In association with Professor Lyle Craker, University of MA at Amherst, MAPS is challenging the federal government's monopoly on legal Cannabis (marijuana) grown for research.