Marijuana Mouth Spray Seeking FDA Approval

CBS News is reporting that a British Pharmaceutical company called GW Pharma has began clinical trials on a marijuana-based mouth spray that the company hopes will one day used to treat pain in cancer patients.

The medicine, called Sativex, is one of the few pharmaceutical products that is created using real marijuana instead of synthetic compounds. It has already been approved for use in Canada, New Zealand and eight European countries, but would be illegal under U.S. federal drug laws without the approval of the Food and Drug Administration. If approved by the FDA Sativex would be the first drug based on marijuana to be prescribed legally in the U.S.

"There is a real disconnect between what the public seems to be demanding and what the states have pushed for and what the market is providing," said Aron Lichtman, a Virginia Commonwealth University pharmacology professor and president of the International Cannabinoid Research Society. "It seems to me a company with a great deal of vision would say, 'If there is this demand and need, we could develop a drug that will help people and we will make a lot of money.'"

You can ready the full story here.

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