We will likely see the US FDA approve a chewing gum made with an artificial weed chemical before we even see clinical trials for marijuana flower. <\/p>\n
On Tuesday, AXIM Biotechnologies announced<\/u><\/a> that it\u2019s about to start its first clinical trials for MedChew(R), a chewing gum infused with dronabinol. Dronabinol is a synthetic, human-made form of THC, the compound in marijuana that causes intoxication. Dronabinol is most (in)famously sold as a spray or pill under the brand name Marinol (offered by a separate company, Banner Pharmacaps, Inc.).<\/p>\n Why infuse a chewing gum with dronabinol when there are already dronabinol sprays and pills? First, from the data that AXIM has collected so far, MedChew(R)\u2019s dronabinol begins taking effect within 10 minutes of chewing, so it kicks in much faster than swallowing a pill. Second, the data also showed that the gum slowly released dronabinol across a four-hour period, so the effects lasted longer and more consistently compared to getting one quick, single dose in a spray or pill.<\/p>\n “We are excited to have completed the first phase of our clinical study and are optimistic about moving forward with the next phase,” John W. Huemoeller II, AXIM\u2019s CEO, said in a press release<\/u><\/a>. “We are getting closer every day to proving that our unique delivery method can provide cancer patients with quicker and more efficient relief from their chemotherapy-related symptoms.”<\/p>\n Now, this begs the second question: Why is AXIM infusing its gum with lab-made THC when cannabis naturally produces the stuff that patients prefer? For starters, dronabinol is FDA-approved as a Schedule III drug and has been since the \u201880s. (Which has us wondering why marijuana is considered a Schedule I drug \u2014 the most restricted class \u2014 even though the federal government considers the synthetic THC in Dronabinol, which is nearly identical, to be Schedule III.) If AXIM wants to push its lab-weed gum through the FDA approval process, it will have a much easier time doing that with dronabinol than with natural, pot-produced THC, which the feds consider as dangerous and addictive as heroin.<\/p>\n