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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is questioning the many medical benefits that some marijuana companies have claimed (like anti-tumor effects in cancer patients).
Can they do that?
As Gottlieb said, “It’s a much broader question about where our responsibility is to step into this and start to ask questions about the claims that are being made…”
This was in response to queries from Congressman Buddy Carter who said he feels the federal government is “putting their head in the sand” about the number of states who are beginning to allow medical cannabis.
But really, as something that is not federally legal, is it the FDA’s responsibility to get into this kind of testing? Even if it was, would it be something that the Feds could do without bias? These are the kinds of questions many people are posing regarding this process.
Now what?
The only thing that’s clear is that everything is still pretty unclear.
The FDA sounds like they are not quite sure if they can get involved in reviewing cannabis companies’ medical claims, and haven’t revealed their methodology in doing so yet.
This has huge implications for the industry. If cannabis companies can stand up to the FDA’s (unbiased) test of their medical claims, it could provide more substantiation for federal legalization. If cannabis companies fail these (unbiased) tests, it stands to bring the legitimacy of the industry as a whole. |
