We are witnessing a revolution of recreational marijuana as more U.S. lawmakers propose and pass laws of regulating it. Also, medical marijuana has proved to help a lot of people in pain.
According to London-based GW Pharmaceuticals, a rare form of epilepsy can be treated with a new oil derived from marijuana plants. This type of condition afflicts roughly 30,000 Americans and the maker claims the drug could offer them some hope.
GW Pharmaceuticals has developed Epidiolex, a drug from the pharmaceutical-grade form of cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabidiol is an oil that can be extracted from the marijuana plant.
Epidiolex is a drug that patients would take orally and it contains only minimum amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ingredient that causes the high effect in pot smokers.
The drug is produced from GW greenhouses in England, where the marijuana plants have been altered to produce significantly more CBD than THC. The oil is then purified in a precise manufacturing process.
Justin Gower, chief executive of GW Pharmaceuticals, said that “between the plant itself and the processing steps which are being taken, the product ends up being pure CBD.”
Previous studies have already tested Epidiolex; in March, GW revealed the results of a particular clinical trial that proved it was effective in treating Dravet syndrome, a very rare form of epilepsy; only 6,000 children are diagnosed with it in the U.S.
After posting the findings, the GW shares saw a surge of 120% in a day, reaching $85 per share. A second clinical trial was conducted, showing a similar effectiveness of the drug for another rare epilepsy form, Lennox Gastaut Syndrome.
With this condition, both children and adults are affected. Tested on patients with an average of 74 seizures a month, Epidiolex was particularly effective on the patients who were administered it, compared to those given a placebo.
While 86 patients took Epidiolex on top of their current epilepsy medications, 85 others received placebo. The patients in the Epidiolex group saw a reduction of 44 percent in seizures compared to a 22 percent for the control group.
GW warned that the drug does have side effects and that as many as 74 of the Epidiolex patients had experienced an “adverse event.” Researchers noted that the drug caused sleepiness, diarrhea, vomiting, and decreased appetite.
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