Federal drug enforcement officials relaxed restrictions last week on the only legal marijuana-based drug. The decision reclassifies synthetic THC, marketed as Marinol, as a Schedule III controlled substance and is expected to expand patients’ access to the drug.
“Marinol is a legal alternative to marijuana that has demonstrated safety and varied effectiveness among patients; for those patients who find medical benefits from Marinol, this ruling is a positive step,” NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. said. “However, to those thousands of patients who find Marinol ineffective or less effective when compared to whole smoked marijuana therapy, this reclassification provides little relief.”
Stroup continued, “Marinol is not necessarily an adequate substitute for whole smoked marijuana because it lacks several of the drug’s medically valuable compounds, known as cannabinoids. Therefore, this decision is not a silver bullet for patients or politicians. Federal law still must be changed to allow those unresponsive to synthetic THC the opportunity to use inhaled marijuana as a legal medical therapy.”
The FDA first approved Marinol in 1986 to treat the nausea associated with cancer therapy. The agency later approved the drug as an appetite stimulant for AIDS patients. Last week’s reclassification ruling allows doctors greater flexibility to prescribe Marinol and relaxes record keeping requirements on the drug.
Stroup noted, however, that it raises further questions about the future of medical marijuana. “This decision by the federal government acknowledges that one of the primary compounds in marijuana, THC, is medically valuable and lacks a high potential for abuse,” he said. “Yet, this same government maintains that marijuana must remain criminally prohibited because it has no medical value and a high abuse potential. This is the equivalent of the government endorsing Vitamin C but prohibiting orange juice.”
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751. Copies of the NORML Foundation white paper, “The Need for Medical Marijuana Despite the Availability of Synthetic THC,” are available upon request.