Non-smoked medical cannabis products needed, says National Drug Control Policy Deputy Director

Cannabis Science, Inc.Mar 11 2010

Cannabis Science, Inc. (OTCBB:CBIS), a pioneering US pharmaceutical cannabis company, notes that comments by President Obama's Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Tom McClellan, in yesterday's USA TODAY pinpoints the need for non-smoked medical cannabis products similar to those currently being developed for FDA clinical trials by Cannabis Science.

Deputy Director McClellan said in the article that Obama administration still opposes smoking marijuana for its medicinal benefit. As well, he says more research is needed to deliver the medically useful ingredients in a non-smoked form. He then went on to say, "We have the safest medications in the world and it's not a coincidence. We have an enviable process by which we approve medications, and that's through the FDA (Food and Drug Administration)."

Dr. Robert Melamede, President and CEO of Cannabis Science, "With an open invitation like this from the Obama Administration, we at Cannabis Science feel more confident than ever that our efforts to provide our "wounded warriors" with an alternative to treatments that are not working will be fairly examined, when we submit our non-smoked cannabis pharmaceutical products to the FDA for clinical trials. We are doing precisely the sort of scientific research that Deputy Director McClellan is calling for."

Richard Cowan, Cannabis Science CFO and a former CEO of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), noted, "It is important that the Obama Administration is making such an open call that they want more FDA clinical trial research on the same types of drugs we are creating. Consequently, we will rapidly proceed with our development of a cannabis-based medicine for PTSD for FDA clinical trials. We hope they will share our sense of urgency, because PTSD is killing not only our veterans, but also our active duty troops. In January alone, more of our active US military troops died of suicide than were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined."

Both Dr. Melamede and Richard Cowan, are long-term advocates of the full legalization of marijuana, and support the rights of patients to use the plant to medicate, including smoking. The article reported that support for full legalization is growing rapidly (now up to 44% nationally and a majority in some states).