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Hypocrisy and Hope surrounding MMJ

  • Seniors MMJ Network
  • Mar 20, 2016
  • 3 min read

US Patent 6630507 Marijuana as medicine

It's not a secret that pharmaceutical companies have been working to bring Cannabis based medicines to market for many years. For select medical conditions, American doctors can prescribe the FDA approved drug, Marinol or Cesimet, which are synthesized forms of THC, the predominant cannabinoid found in the Cannabis plant. Another drug, Sativex, is a THC and CBD based medicine that is approved in 25 countries to effectively treat spasticity (muscle spasms and stiffness) in Multiple Sclerosis patients.

People around the world are aware of the medical benefits from MMJ and with the current wave of legalization in the US, Big Pharma is just waiting for the word "go".

But first, let us shine some light on the biggest hypocrisy of them all. We all know that Federally, Cannabis is illegal. It is classified as a Schedule 1 drug; a drug classified as having ZERO medical benefits and has a high likelihood for addiction. Heroin and Medical Marijuana are Schedule 1 drugs, but oddly cocaine and methamphetamine are in the lesser, Schedule 2 class. Allow us to get to the larger hypocrisy here though, for over a decade the US Government has held a patent on the medicinal properties of Cannabis. Additionally, in 2015 the NIH updated Cancer.gov to admit the science behind the knowledge that Medical Marijuana can kill cancer. All along they have been blocking independent medical research, why?

The patent (US6630507) is titled “Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants” and was awarded to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in October 2003. It was filed four years earlier, in 1999, by a group of scientists from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The patent claims exclusive rights on the use of cannabinoids for treating neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and stroke, and diseases caused by oxidative stress, such as heart attack, Crohn’s disease, Diabetes and Arthritis. Overall, it is a poorly written patent that didn't cover all of the bases, which allows and encourages savvy pharmaceutical companies to spend millions of dollars on research looking for the next big medical breakthrough.

The patent is not a secret and is very easy to locate / verify should you still be in disbelief / shock.

Medical Marijuana vs Pain killers

Turning from hypocrisy to hope, we highlight a big announcement this week from GW Pharmaceuticals (makers of Sativex) and what they have been working on. A recently completed study of GW's Epidiolex drug on Dravet syndrome is the first of four final-stage Phase III epilepsy trials, with results expected this year. You might be familiar with the condition known as Dravet syndrome from the highly acclaimed Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigative series, "Weed". The first of his three part series focused on a little girl in Colorado who suffered from Dravet syndrome. Episode one documented the miraculous impact Medical Marijuana had on her life.

Hopes have been building following positive feedback from "compassionate access" programs involving hundreds of American children, but the Phase III program is the make-or-break hurdle.

Chief Executive Justin Gover said the success of the first Phase III trial signaled that the compassionate access programs had painted an accurate picture of the drug's efficacy.

"It clearly provides us with an excellent basis to be confident about the outcome of the additional trials because this trial has shown that the previous open-label data was very predictive," he said.

Epidiolex, which is given as a child-friendly syrup, is also being tested in Phase III trials for another rare type of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and a late-stage study in a third epilepsy indication, tuberous sclerosis complex, is due to start soon.

As we can see, there has been significant progress in the research and understanding of the beneficial properties in Cannabis. Although it took the allure of huge profits for the plant to be studied, we (like the hundreds of thousands of sick people worldwide) are thankful to see real research and real breakthroughs. Lives will be saved, lives have been saved. What some prohibitionists miss, is that when scientists discover how Medical Marijuana effects the body and certain conditions, they can build on that knowledge to create new medicines.

It's not all about getting high. It's not even about using MMJ yourself, possibly, it could simply be about finding a new cure… for many things.

Government patent on Marijuana Cannabis

 
 
 

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