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As more states, including Minnesota, allow limited use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, scientists are expanding research efforts to understand how marijuana and the chemicals it contains interact with the body.

Hampton Sides wrote about the science of marijuana in the June issue of National Geographic. He joins MPR News' Tom Crann Wednesday at 9 a.m. to talk about his piece. 

Israeli organic chemist Raphael Mechoulam found marijuana's principal active ingredient: tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)

Researchers know very little about the medical benefits of marijuana because it's classified as a Schedule 1 drug. But the government is showing signs of loosening restrictions on research.

Parents are using compounds from medical marijuana to treat serious conditions in their children

Pharmaceuticals are interested in marijuana, but it's tough to make money off the plant.

. "It's just a weed. It grows everywhere."

Companies like GW Pharmaceuticals are focusing on isolating individual compounds and slightly altering it chemically so they can patent and mass produce it. 

Some research shows promise for brain tumors, but it's only been tested on animals.

Scientists are trying to map the marijuana genome. Right now, it's in 60,000 pieces.

"Once the map is complete, enterprising geneticists will be able to use it in myriad ways, such as breeding strains that contain much higher levels of one of the plant's rare compounds with medically important properties," Sides writes.

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As more states, including Minnesota, allow limited use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, scientists are expanding research efforts to understand how marijuana and the chemicals it contains interact with the body.


As more states, including Minnesota, allow limited use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, scientists are expanding research efforts to understand how marijuana and the chemicals it contains interact with the body. GUESTS: Tim Nelson of MPR News and National Geographic contributor Hampton Sides

What scientists know about marijuana

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