Robert Celt
New Member
The recent news about a looming controversy regarding medical marijuana and an experimental epilepsy drug raises intriguing questions – but, in the long run, likely will be seen as a footnote on the road to more widespread legalization.
At issue in the recent case is an experimental drug, Epidiolex, which is made from cannabis plants grown in England. The drug is a nearly pure extract of cannabidiol, or CBD. It has little of the substance in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), that produces the traditional pot high. A researcher in Columbus, Ohio, says that Epidiolex has shown great promise in treating seizures, especially among children. And, the researcher notes, studies have suggested that children can be hurt by using the whole marijuana plant.
The researcher, Anup Patel, has been working with a London-based company, GW Pharmaceuticals, which gave him enough of the medicine for a single patient. Last month, the company released positive results of late-stage testing. It plans to take the drug to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval later this year.
That worries medical marijuana activists, who cite two major concerns: First, they worry that approval of Epidiolex will mark the beginning of Big Pharma's takeover of medical marijuana, a development that could hinder the ability of users to access the entire plant. Second, they worry that the drug's approval could undercut the political momentum for medical marijuana in states that have yet to approve it.
It's true that momentum has slowed somewhat from the days when proponents could boast that a medical marijuana ballot measure never had lost on a state ballot. But part of that likely has little to do with Big Pharma and much more to do with another growing trend: The states which have voted to legalize recreational pot, a development which takes some of the wind out of the medical marijuana issue.
The debate over Epidiolex has created two camps that seemingly are at odds, but here's a case in which each camp has something useful to contribute.
What drives researchers like Patel is a desire to get more hard data to back up (or refute) the claims made by medical marijuana users. In Oregon alone, thousands upon thousands of people have medical marijuana cards, so they must feel the drug does something useful for them. The more we can back up those experiences with hard science, the better off we'll all be. (And, if the data suggest that medical marijuana can be useful in treating specific ailments, it would only be natural for Big Pharma to take an interest, especially if questions regarding proper dosage can be worked out. Medical marijuana proponents may have feared this day, but they had to know that it was inevitable.)
In the other camp are those people who advocate a whole-plant approach to medical marijuana: They argue that users know best what works for them. In the 23 states such as Oregon with developed medical marijuana programs, users can access a variety of marijuana products. The issue is a little trickier in the 17 states that permit only use of low-THC, high-CBD products; those states ban the growing of marijuana plants.
Over the long run, however, we suspect that this debate eventually will play itself out: As states increasingly legalize the recreational use of pot, the debate over how users can access medical marijuana will become almost an afterthought. And the people who rely on marijuana for medicinal purposes will be able to access the drug, ideally in a variety of forms.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana Debate Takes A New Form
Author: Staff
Contact: Albany Democrat-Herald
Photo Credit: Trevor Hughes
Website: Albany Democrat-Herald
At issue in the recent case is an experimental drug, Epidiolex, which is made from cannabis plants grown in England. The drug is a nearly pure extract of cannabidiol, or CBD. It has little of the substance in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), that produces the traditional pot high. A researcher in Columbus, Ohio, says that Epidiolex has shown great promise in treating seizures, especially among children. And, the researcher notes, studies have suggested that children can be hurt by using the whole marijuana plant.
The researcher, Anup Patel, has been working with a London-based company, GW Pharmaceuticals, which gave him enough of the medicine for a single patient. Last month, the company released positive results of late-stage testing. It plans to take the drug to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval later this year.
That worries medical marijuana activists, who cite two major concerns: First, they worry that approval of Epidiolex will mark the beginning of Big Pharma's takeover of medical marijuana, a development that could hinder the ability of users to access the entire plant. Second, they worry that the drug's approval could undercut the political momentum for medical marijuana in states that have yet to approve it.
It's true that momentum has slowed somewhat from the days when proponents could boast that a medical marijuana ballot measure never had lost on a state ballot. But part of that likely has little to do with Big Pharma and much more to do with another growing trend: The states which have voted to legalize recreational pot, a development which takes some of the wind out of the medical marijuana issue.
The debate over Epidiolex has created two camps that seemingly are at odds, but here's a case in which each camp has something useful to contribute.
What drives researchers like Patel is a desire to get more hard data to back up (or refute) the claims made by medical marijuana users. In Oregon alone, thousands upon thousands of people have medical marijuana cards, so they must feel the drug does something useful for them. The more we can back up those experiences with hard science, the better off we'll all be. (And, if the data suggest that medical marijuana can be useful in treating specific ailments, it would only be natural for Big Pharma to take an interest, especially if questions regarding proper dosage can be worked out. Medical marijuana proponents may have feared this day, but they had to know that it was inevitable.)
In the other camp are those people who advocate a whole-plant approach to medical marijuana: They argue that users know best what works for them. In the 23 states such as Oregon with developed medical marijuana programs, users can access a variety of marijuana products. The issue is a little trickier in the 17 states that permit only use of low-THC, high-CBD products; those states ban the growing of marijuana plants.
Over the long run, however, we suspect that this debate eventually will play itself out: As states increasingly legalize the recreational use of pot, the debate over how users can access medical marijuana will become almost an afterthought. And the people who rely on marijuana for medicinal purposes will be able to access the drug, ideally in a variety of forms.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana Debate Takes A New Form
Author: Staff
Contact: Albany Democrat-Herald
Photo Credit: Trevor Hughes
Website: Albany Democrat-Herald
