Matthew Sumner/REUTERS
The National Institutes of Health is soliciting proposals from cannabis farmers who can “harvest, process, analyze, store and distribute” 12 acres of marijuana. The pot is needed for research purposes, of course, according to a posting on the Federal Business Opportunities website. And the federal pot growers will have to meet enough stipulations to kill your high. They must have a “secure and video monitored outdoor facility” and “demonstrate the availability” of a DEA- and FDA-approved vault to store 400 and 700 kilograms of marijuana-related products. The proposal doesn't exactly mean the feds will get 420-friendly any time soon. But considering the government still officially considers marijuana on par with heroin, it may just be mellowing out a bit. Before you know it, Congress may even start getting stoned.