"I hear so many different things about federal deregulation. Some people say it may be a year and other people say 10 years. You guys are in the industry. What do you think? If the government does not deregulate marijuana and most states legalize, does it even matter??"
Since I’m not in the FDA nor privy to their conversations, any answer I give is purely speculation. There is thought that the FDA is loosening up a bit in terms of approving more studies then ever to let researchers perform clinical trials to scientifically evaluate cannabis as it relates to certain medical conditions. They have recently done this for a study regarding cannabis and PTSD in veterans.
There have been Senators from many states writing letters to the FDA asking them to do the same thing. Quite frankly, with the Presidential election coming this year, I very much doubt that anything will happen until then. And even then it will depend on who gets elected and what guidance they give to the FDA. While it supposedly a independent agency the reality is that they take their lead from ‘The Boss".
If in fact the FDA does not change the status of cannabis, I think it matters only in terms of clinical trials being done in the United States. Studies are continuing in other countries all the time and patients can obtain information about them from Web based searches. I also believe that more and more states will be passing laws that will allow medical cannabis to be recommended by physicians despite the Schedule 1 classification.
Perry Solomon, MD
I actually have it on video recording from a physician who is employed by the pharmaceutical industry doing R&D that they are rapidly working on making pharmaceutical cannabis that they feel will meet all the patient’s needs because they intend to keep ‘The Weed’ illegal and force all doctors to write for pharmaceutical grade cannabis. This should be an interesting and entertaining challenge to watch in the future because the millennial’s are the first generation that have been brainwashed to believe drugs are good. In 1986 our government gave corporations the right to direct market people so it was approximately 1990 that all the pharmaceutical drug ads hit the TV, prior to that time it was not legal for drug companies to direct advertise to patients. But now many of the millennial’s are angry because they were placed on Ritalin when they were seven years old and change to Adderall as adults and they have never had a chance to know who they are or their mission in life. This is just one reason that Bernie Sanders is popular with the millennial’s. Cannabis is a beneficial medication that has been around for 5000 years and was used in ancient China so we must all question how can they make this drug deal illegal when it is a weed and by law no one is supposed to be able to have a patent on this drug. The rumors are rampant and as Dr. Solomon mentions, everything is speculation.
drolson
