Peter Loftus reports for the WSJ:
An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration recommended the agency approve what could become the first prescription drug in the U.S. derived from the marijuana plant, as a treatment for people with rare forms of epilepsy.Is removal of marijuana from Schedule I likely to happen this year?* * *The FDA is expected to decide by the end of June whether to approve the drug for sale. The agency isn't required to follow the advice of its advisory committees but usually does. GW Pharmaceuticals proposes to call the drug by the brand name Epidiolex.
Federal law places drugs on various schedules. Congress wrote the list originally and authorized the Attorney General to make changes based on specified criteria. Marijuana was placed on Schedule I
Two years ago (that's during the Obama Administration, for those keeping score), Acting DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg declined to change marijuana from the most tightly restricted group, Schedule I. One of the criteria for that schedule is that the drug, "has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States."
The Rosenberg letter indicated that the FDA approval process was the measure of currently accepted medical use and that as of the date of the letter there was none. "If the scientific understanding about marijuana changes -- and it could change -- then the decision could change." Given the centrality of FDA approval, or lack of it, to the decision, it seems that the now-likely FDA approval will eliminate the "no currently accepted medical use" prong of the prior decision.
A change from Schedule I to another schedule is not legalization, of course, but it would mean less restriction, particularly for research.
As for what is actually in the bottle, the WSJ story says:
That seems to me to be a step in the right direction. We should be open to the possibility that substances in this plant may have legitimate medical applications, but I have long been skeptical of the notion that smoking weed was the best way to administer such substances. No other medication, to my knowledge, is administered by inhaling smoke
For genuine medical applications, developing drugs like this is the way to go. Those who actually just want to get high will then need to drop the pretense and sell legalization for that purpose to the people on its own merits.
Two years ago (that's during the Obama Administration, for those keeping score), Acting DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg declined to change marijuana from the most tightly restricted group, Schedule I. One of the criteria for that schedule is that the drug, "has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States."
The Rosenberg letter indicated that the FDA approval process was the measure of currently accepted medical use and that as of the date of the letter there was none. "If the scientific understanding about marijuana changes -- and it could change -- then the decision could change." Given the centrality of FDA approval, or lack of it, to the decision, it seems that the now-likely FDA approval will eliminate the "no currently accepted medical use" prong of the prior decision.
A change from Schedule I to another schedule is not legalization, of course, but it would mean less restriction, particularly for research.
As for what is actually in the bottle, the WSJ story says:
Cannabidiol is derived from the cannabis plant, also known as marijuana. U.K.-based GW Pharmaceuticals says the solution, taken by mouth, is made from a proprietary strain of cannabis designed to maximize a therapeutic component while minimizing components that produce euphoria. GW Pharmaceuticals grows the plants in the U.K.
That seems to me to be a step in the right direction. We should be open to the possibility that substances in this plant may have legitimate medical applications, but I have long been skeptical of the notion that smoking weed was the best way to administer such substances. No other medication, to my knowledge, is administered by inhaling smoke
For genuine medical applications, developing drugs like this is the way to go. Those who actually just want to get high will then need to drop the pretense and sell legalization for that purpose to the people on its own merits.
I live in a state where marijuana is legal for both medical and recreational use. There is now a dizzying array of different products for ingesting cannabis in ways other than smoking. Add this to a local culture where people who smoke (cigarettes) are a tiny minority, and I'd guess that edible products account for close to half of legal cannabis usage in the area where I live.
As government restrictions continue to relax, I think we'll be seeing a number of legitimate medicinal products coming out in the next few years that will not involve smoking, most of which will likely have the THC greatly reduced or removed entirely. Marijuana is relatively cheap and easy to produce, and it seems to have promise in a number of medical applications. I hope these trends continue.