Major US federal switch on medicinal marijuana

The US federal government has announced a major shift in policy towards the medicinal use of marijuana for HIV/AIDs and multiple sclerosis  patients. Attorney General Eric Holder, who took office earlier this  year, has indicated that the federal authorities, primarily the Drug  Enforcement Administration, will no longer target dispensaries that  supply the Cannabis sativa plant in states that have legalized the  practice.

The main state affected by this move is California, which last year  authorized vending machines for patients with specific health conditions  (Marketletter February 14, 2008). In all, 13 states current allow people  to purchase the drug, but only California permits commercial enterprises  to advertise dispensary services.

Three cannabinoid pharmaceutical agents have been developed, which could  potentially be affected by competition from herbal alternatives: Marinol  (dronabinol from Belgium's Solvay); nabilone; Sativex (a cannabis-based  oromuscosal spray from UK-based GW Pharma). A fourth, rimonabant (French  drug major Sanofi-Aventis' Acomplia brand for obesity), was discontinued  due to psychiatric adverse events (Marketletters passim).