Workshop Summary Outlines Current Landscape and Future Prospects for Cannabis ResearchMay 10, 2019 David Shurtleff, Ph.D. People have used marijuana, also called cannabis, for health purposes for thousands of years. Recent growing interest on the part of health-care providers and the public has been pointing toward use of cannabis and its components to treat medical conditions. A number of states and the District of Columbia have legislation allowing specific uses for medical purposes. At the same time, cannabis is Federally regulated as a Schedule I controlled substance. This situation presents unique obstacles for conducting basic and clinical research and for medication development. While research can be done, the landscape is complex and challenging. To help provide a path forward for addressing regulatory challenges in conducting research, NCCIH sponsored a workshop in December 2018 on “Evaluating the Therapeutic Potential of Cannabinoids: How To Conduct Research Within the Current Regulatory Framework.” We have just published the summary. The experts who presented at the workshop and reviewed its summary included researchers, government officials (from NCCIH, other NIH institutes, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Drug Enforcement Administration), and industry representatives. They discussed topics such as the state of the science on the risks and potential benefits of cannabis; the regulatory landscape; the FDA approval process; and how to advance the research, including toward FDA-approved product development for clinical use. |
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