Big Pharma Is in a Frenzy to Bring Cannabis-Based Medicines to Market

[flashl]

While the the American Medical Association claims pot has no medical value, Big Pharma is busy getting patents for marijuana products.

The US government's longstanding denial of medical marijuana research and use is an irrational and morally bankrupt public policy. On this point, few Americans disagree. As for the question of "why" federal officials maintain this inflexible and inhumane policy, well that's another story

One of the more popular theories seeking to explain the Feds' seemingly inexplicable ban on medical pot goes like this: Neither the US government nor the pharmaceutical industry will allow for the use of medical marijuana because they can't patent it or profit from it.

It's an appealing theory, yet I've found it to be neither accurate nor persuasive. Here's why.

First, let me state the obvious. Big Pharma is busily applying for -- and has already received -- multiple patents for the medical properties of pot. These include patents for synthetic pot derivatives (such as the oral THC pill Marinol), cannabinoid agonists (synthetic agents that bind to the brain's endocannabinoid receptors) like HU-210 and cannabis antagonists such as Rimonabant. This trend was most recently summarized in the NIH paper (pdf), "The endocannabinoid system as an emerging target of pharmacotherapy," which concluded, "The growing interest in the underlying science has been matched by a growth in the number of cannabinoid drugs in pharmaceutical development from two in 1995 to 27 in 2004." In other words, at the same time the American Medical Association is proclaiming that pot has no medical value, Big Pharma is in a frenzy to bring dozens of new, cannabis-based medicines to market.

Alter Net

[Double T]

1. The US needs a NEW industry to help our destroyed crippled economy..........

and americans need to be stoned ALL the time to cope with the bush/cheney economic and financial greatest depression. Perfect timing; feel no pain and laugh your ass off.

[crikkett]

2. OP wanted to note the following hypocrisy: that you can't say MJ has no medical properties while

simultaneously granting patents on all of MJ's medical properties.

So your cynicism, while off-point, is noted, and yes we all need to be stoned now that TV is so bad it can't keep us spellbound anymore.

[jpcrecom]

3. I'm really surprised

why would big pharma want pot as an option. If it were legal, it would be something that anyone could grow on their own. The thing about pharma is that all of their drugs are processed, and unnatural. Pot is naturally ocurring. If it were all of a sudden legal, people would grow their own not buy it from Pfizer. Not only that, but people would be smoking pot instead of taking a ton of prescription drugs.