Could Utah Lead Out in the Testing of Marijuana? Probably Not

  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Friday it would like more research before medicinal marijuana is legalized.
   Consider, then, what needs to be done, or what could be done. The typical testing for pharmaceuticals involves primarily three steps: Giving it to 20-100 people to see if it is safe, giving it to 100-300 people to see if the drug has efficacy, and giving it to 2,000-3,000 people to see if it has therapeutic value. Could Utah follow those three steps, before legalizing a drug derived from marijuana?
   I read how marijuana has not been tested. If this is true, that this type of testing has not taken place, doing this would place Utah at the forefront of researching medical marijuana.
   I think we might should consider the expense of such a study, though. I do not know how much it would be, if it would be something we could pay for, or if it would be prohibitive. I read how small companies often sell their patent rights to large pharmaceuticals when their product reaches this testing stage, as it is expensive. I wonder how many workers are required to conduct the study. I wonder if the medical school at the University of Utah could be utilized to conduct the study and if that would hold the expense down.
   Then, the question comes, can you even do a study -- should you -- if the drug remains illegal on the national level. It seems the first step is to call on Congress to rewrite federal law, and that rewrite should include provision allowing marijuana to be grown for and used in testing.
   Or, the right of the states to legalize marijuana could be tested in the courts, with the question being whether the 10th Amendment's reserving powers not given the federal government to the states means the states have the right to legalize marijuana regardless what the federal government says.
   Either way, whether Congress changes the national law or whether the courts rule favorably on the 10th Amendment, if the reason for little research is due to marijuana being illegal, then when that approval comes, the pharmaceuticals probably would be quick to do testing.
  The thought that Utah could be at the forefront of research would disappear.