High Hopes Ride On Marijuana Painkillers Amid Opioid Crisis

[Ron Strider]

A handful of drugmakers are taking their first steps toward developing marijuana-based painkillers, alternatives to opioids that have led to widespread abuse and caused the U.S. health regulator to ask for a withdrawal of a popular drug this month.

The cannabis plant has been used for decades to manage pain and there are increasingly sophisticated marijuana products available across 29 U.S. states, as well as in the District of Columbia, where medical marijuana is legal.

There are no U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved painkillers derived from marijuana, but companies such as Axim Biotechnologies Inc, Nemus Bioscience Inc and Intec Pharma Ltd have drugs in various stages of development.

The companies are targeting the more than 100 million Americans who suffer from chronic pain, and are dependent on opioid painkillers such as Vicodin, or addicted to street opiates including heroin.

Opioid overdose, which claimed celebrities including Prince and Heath Ledger as victims, contributed to more than 33,000 deaths in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Earlier this month, the FDA asked Endo International Plc to withdraw its Opana ER painkiller from the market, the first time the agency has called for the removal of an opioid painkiller for public health reasons. The FDA concluded that the drug's benefits no longer outweighed its risks.

FIGHTING THE EPIDEMIC

Multiple studies have shown that pro-medical marijuana states have reported fewer opiate deaths and there are no deaths related to marijuana overdose on record.(Would legalizing medical marijuana help curb the opioid epidemic?
| Reuters)

But marijuana-derived drugs could take longer than usual to hit the market as the federal government considers marijuana a "schedule 1" substance - a dangerous drug with no medicinal value - making added approvals necessary. Any drug typically takes at least a decade from discovery to approval.

It could be worth the wait.

An FDA-approved marijuana-based painkiller would ensure consistent dosing and potency, and availability across the country, analysts and experts said.

"Doctors like to be able to write a prescription and know that whatever they wrote is pure and from a blinded, placebo-controlled trial," California-based Nemus's CEO Brian Murphy told Reuters.

Nemus is testing its product - a synthetic version of the non-psychoactive CBD compound found in cannabis - on rats with chronic pain and expects to report data later this year.

Rival Axim, whose North American headquarters is in New York, is conducting preclinical studies on a chewing gum containing synthetic CBD and THC, a psychoactive compound found in marijuana. The company expects to submit an FDA application to start a trial on opioid-dependent patients this year.

Leading the pack is Israel-based Intec, which recently announced the start of an early-stage study testing its painkiller made of natural CBD and THC extracts.

OTHER OPTIONS

Independent scientists are also looking to find natural, non-pharmaceutical alternatives to opioids, but many have said it is difficult to access government-approved marijuana to conduct research due to supply restrictions.

"It's taken me seven years to get the DEA license," said Dr Sue Sisley, who is planning to conduct an FDA-regulated study evaluating whether marijuana can help opioid-dependent patients.

There could soon be other alternatives as well. Pfizer Inc and Biogen Inc are among a clutch of drugmakers developing non-opioid painkillers that are in advanced clinical studies.

Still, opioid painkillers are here to stay and will continue to be widely prescribed, especially for patients with acute and post-surgical pain.

The Republican healthcare bill unveiled on Thursday has proposed a drastic cut to the Medicaid budget and could gut, what advocates say, is essential coverage for drug addiction treatment, potentially hampering the fight against opioid abuse.

News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
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[d333gs]

I am very pro Marijuana. I am 63 now and had my first toke at 13. But I have never had the experience of Marijuana relieving pain or helping with nausea although I certainty always experienced an increase in appetite.

 

[mlang52]

d333gs,
I recently experienced great pain relief from the last strain that I had. My wife was relieved of migraine pain from the same strain! It might help many people. IT WILL NOT HELP EVERYONE, just like every other medication known to man!

But...
This article is written with an anti-opioid slant. The "epidemic" is still from, mostly, heroin abuse,and the related Fentanyl over-doses. But, if the heroin (diamorphine) was not clandestinely produced, (and thus of varying potency, possibly tainted with Fentanyl), it would be much safer. Chronic pain patients are going to be required to suffer in silence. Or, they might prefer not to suffer. I can guarantee you, without pain control, suicide will be the only choice TPTB give us! The manufacturers don't care. They prefer to treat those of us that suffer, with no compassion. If, and when, they find a new drug, they will charge such a high price that none of us Medicare patients will be able to afford it (since it will be a tier 5 drug...(;-P)...I would prefer to find out the strain, that helped me, and grow my own! Denying treatment with opiods is the desire of the "drug overlords". They have been unsuccessful with their fifty year "war on drugs". This attempt will fail, too, while torturing the patients the doctors are supposed to be helping. We are just another type of victim that results from the "war on drugs"!

P.S. Most chronic pain patients are not addicted to their drugs. They take them as directed. There is a big difference between addiction and dependence. Addicts have other factors that lead to their abuse. The FDA has no right to determine the lack of usefulness of a drug, either! Even worse is the DEA, and the law enforcement types, that think they know more than us doctors!

 

[d333gs]

M Lang , thanks for that interesting response. What was the strain? my experience has been with what ever was going around on the streets until I started growing White widow and Gold Polm for personal use. I must say though that being an alcoholic , any time I get the urge to go out and party , a toke changes my state of mind and I become more interested in staying at home,ordering a pizza and watching something on netflix. This has been very helpful for me .

 

[mlang52]

I lost 4 family members to alcohol. It is, likely, the deadliest drug out there. It certainly kills more than other drugs! Although Fentanyl is very potent and easy to overdose with, it is not being used to lace cannabis, so far. Hopefully, the system for legal cannabis will insulate us from the jerks who would lace our weed.