This past week, the Florida Department of Health released information about plans to use its earmarked CBD research money to test Epidiolex, a drug patented and created by the publicly traded pharmaceutical company, GW Pharma (GWPH).
The issue that Florida’s Department of Health is funding a research study is nothing new: the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act, passed by the Florida senate back in 2014, incorporated a clause to appropriate $1 million a year in nonrecurring general money to research the effects of CBD oil on intractable childhood epilepsy.
This past week, the Florida Department of Health stated that it had awarded the earmarked money to the University of Florida for research that will not actually test the effect of the high cannabidiol’s that would be allowed under this bill, however will actually test a liquid system of purified CBD extracts better identified as Epidiolex, a drug developed and patented by a British pharmaceutical company.
The study will led by Dr. Paul Carney, a neurologist, and epileptologist, and his teammate the university of Florida, will dedicate their efforts on kids ages 2-16 whose seizures have not been controlled by other anti-seizure medication.
Florida’s decision to test Epidiolex, rather than CBD cannabis oil, mirrors a greater problem impending legitimate studies within the marijuana industry: the inherent issue between colleges, where medical researchers are employed, and federal laws that currently prevent these researchers from being hands on with the plant. The University of Florida has stated it would stay away from direct marijuana research because it could harm the schooled federal funding, making Epidolex practically the schools only logical option to investigate the impact of CBD.
MAPH Enterprises, LLC | (305) 414-0128 | 1501 Venera Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33146 | new@marijuanastocks.com
