Pubdate: Mon, 18 Apr 2016
Source: Times-Tribune, The (Scranton PA)
Copyright: 2016 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.thetimes-tribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4440
Author: Julie Carr Smyth, Associated Press

A WRENCH IN POT DEBATE

Epilepsy Drug May Undercut Medical Marijuana Activists

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - An experimental epilepsy drug made from 
cannabis plants grown in England is complicating the medical 
marijuana debate in hospitals and statehouses.

Epidiolex is a nearly pure extract of cannabidiol, or CBD, with 
little of the tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, that gets traditional pot 
users high. CBD products are the current rage in medicinal pot 
products, and activists fear that if the maker of Epidiolex manages 
to get FDA approval it could undercut the political momentum of the 
medical marijuana movement.

Anup Patel, a pediatric neurologist who oversees Epidiolex clinical 
trials at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, insists the 
drug contains the optimal known marijuana compound for treating 
seizures. He cited a study that found children can be hurt by using 
the whole plant.

Dr. Patel laments that children with epilepsy are being used - 
including during an unsuccessful Ohio campaign last year - to push 
for medical marijuana legalization.

"People are mixing terms, mixing ideas," he said.

Karmen Hanson, the expert on marijuana policy for the nonpartisan 
National Conference of State Legislatures, said the two sides are at odds.

"The argument for traditional (whole-plant) medical marijuana is that 
people know what works for them ... so they want to protect their 
ability to do that," she said. "The other camp wants to see the 
head-to-head science, to give it more scientific validity, to elevate 
the products that are produced in terms of reliability and consistency."

Dr. Patel is in Camp 2. He personally lobbied to get U.S. patients 
access to Epidiolex, which he said is effective, consistent and 
doesn't get users high.

The FDA has not yet found any botanical form of marijuana to be safe 
or effective to treat any disease or condition, spokesman Michael 
Felberbaum said. If approved, Epidiolex would be the first. Two 
synthetic cannabinoids are available.

Many medical marijuana activists fear Epidiolex approval will mark 
the beginning of Big Pharma's takeover of the marijuana plant, 
undercutting patients' ability to treat themselves as they see fit.

[sidebar]

A difficult battle

Tara Cordle of Wheelersburg, Ohio, has a 10-year-old son, Waylon, who 
suffers from a severe form of epilepsy and is part of Epidiolex 
clinical trials in Columbus, Ohio.

She said she also wants Waylon to have access to the whole marijuana 
plant, even if it has risks. Ms. Cordle said it's difficult as a 
parent not to hope for a miracle cure.

She said Waylon takes 47 pills a day - pills that make him sweat, 
that give him diarrhea, that put him at risk of kidney stones or that 
promote early onset osteoporosis.

"I'm not afraid of doing a trial and error," she said, "because every 
seizure medication you put your child on is a trial and error."
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