Calif pot research center may be winding down work

Associated Press - February 17, 2010 2:04 PM ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A research center established by the California Legislature to look into the possible medical benefits of marijuana is wrapping up its work after 10 years and nearly $9 million.

Igor Grant is a psychiatrist who directs the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, San Diego. He said in a report issued Wednesday that 4 of the 15 state-funded studies show that smoking pot "is a promising treatment" in reducing pain caused by certain neurological injuries or diseases.

Grant says a fifth project showed that cannabis can reduce the painful muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis.

Because the federal government considers marijuana an illegal drug, Grant says the center's experiments have provided the first U.S. clinical trials on the efficacy of smoked pot in 20 years.