DEA Visit

Today, the lab had a DEA inspection [Note: this note refers to a day in June]. Although I do not know too much about the DEA procedures, I assume that this was a routine visit in order to ensure that the lab is up to standards in terms of safety and security. Since marijuana is a Schedule I drug in the United States (which means that the drug has a high potential for abuse, the drug has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision), the DEA are making a sort of "exception" to the law in order for the lab to use marijuana for research. Thus, they must make sure that we are doing everything in our power to make sure that the drug is being used in a safe and controlled manner.

As mentioned in a much earlier blog post, one of the most important parts of the facility is the "drug room," where we store all of the substances that are being studied in the SURC. This room has many highly illegal drugs, and thus must be protected with the strict security standards. The part of the inspection that I witnessed mostly had to do with checking the various systems that we have in place to protect this room (there are many!). Alarms were tested, codes were used, and there were even some parts where I was told to cover my ears so I wouldn't hear a particular part of the security protocol.

So, as I've mentioned several times throughout this blog, security for the research of schedule I drugs is extremely important, and the protocols that we follow in the lab ensure that we can maintain the trust of the government. Although it may be nerve wracking for the staff to have DEA officials come into our lab and scrutinize our process, this is the necessary price to pay for doing important research that will affect many people.