Pubdate: Wed, 19 Oct 2011
Source: Rocky Mountain Collegian, The (Colorado State U, CO Edu)
Copyright: 2011 Rocky Mountain Collegian
Contact: http://www.collegian.com/home/lettertotheeditor/
Website: http://www.collegian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1370
Author: Erik Carman

COLORADO LAB CREATES CANCER-FIGHTING POT PLANT

Marijuana Opponents Say Drug Needs FDA Approval

Cannabis Science Inc., a Colorado-based medicinal marijuana biotech 
company that develops pharmaceutical cannabis products, has developed 
a formula it said can treat cancer.

Earlier this month, the company announced plans for the drug to go 
into circulation by the end of October. It will be released first in 
two unspecified Colorado cities. Colorado will be the only state thus 
far to administer the drug to patients, though the company hopes to 
expand worldwide.

"We are a global company with a global solution to a global problem," 
said Cannabis Sciences' Investment Relations Manager Robert Kane.

The drug works by utilizing the tumor killing properties of ceratin 
compounds found in marijuana, and its ability to inhibit growth in a 
variety of cancers.

Kane said he would, "love to see people benefit from (cannabis) 
cancer medicines enough to enough to get FDA approval," adding that, 
once the success of the medication is seen in Colorado, he expects to 
see if being used in other states and countries.

"People should have this as an option," Kane stated, noting the 
importance of a viable alternative to the medications offered by the 
present system.

Former Fort Collins Mayor and Executive Board Member of Concerned 
Citizens of Fort Collins Ray Martinez said efforts to get the drug 
FDA approved are being done all wrong.

"The FDA needs to monitor the process," Martinez said.

Hannah Getzen, a junior music therapy major, said she felt something 
that could in any way improve the quality of a cancer patient's life 
should absolutely be pursued. "If you gave it [the drug] a generic 
name, and it wasn't called marijuana, people wouldn't hesitate to 
support it." Getzen said.

However, according to Laura Kriho, president of the Cannabis Therapy 
Institute, marijuana and cannabis-related medications should be 
available to everyone.

"Never has a medication treated so many conditions so effectively," Kriho said.

Kriho said that since the 30's, pharmaceutical companies have been, 
at least in part, responsible for the prohibition of marijuana, 
saying that the sale of such drugs would interfere the sale of 
similar pharmaceutical medications.

But according to Martinez, dispensaries are more concerned with 
making money than treating patients, using the recent unionization 
between local dispensaries and the food industry union in Denver as an example.

Martinez said he supports the use of any drug, as long as it 
undergoes the scrutiny of the FDA.

"Some people really do need it," Martinez said. "But I want to see it 
done through the FDA."

Martinez added that testing of medicinal marijuana by the FDA would 
allow doctors to inform patients of any dangers and hazards involved.

"As of now," Martinez said. "No research has been conducted."
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