Cliff DesPeaux/Reuters
Despite 25 U.S. states and the District of Columbia having allowed the medical use of marijuana, the federal government on Thursday will reaffirm its prohibition on the drug and its standing as a Schedule I narcotic that has “no currently accepted medical use.” The refusal to reschedule the drug will maintain its illegality, at the federal level, for doctors to prescribe to patients, effectively continuing the chill on medical research for the popular drug. According to multiple outlets, however, the government’s announcement will also expand the number of research facilities allowed to grow marijuana for medical-research purposes, effectively ending the monopoly on such research held by the University of Mississippi in contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse.