The chances of the FDA every approving smokable marijuana were slim to none, according to FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb.

He explained that the agency is apprehensive about giving its approval to a supposed medicine that is consumed through combustible means.

Gottlieb likened the act of smoking pot to crushing up a prescription medicine and smoking it. He contended that using the lungs as entry point for a drug is not optimal.

This does not necessarily mean that the agency does not believe cannabis could have therapeutic benefits in some cases. Gottlieb clarified that it is more about having reservations about smoking as an effective method of delivering an active ingredient to the body.

Gottlieb also explained that this does not mean the FDA would not evaluate smokable cannabis if it came in.

Right now, the FDA is set to give a new cannabis-derived drug called Epidiolex its stamp of approval. Once it does, the drug’s UK-based manufacturer, GW Pharmaceuticals PLC will have the right to bring Epidiolex to the American market.

If everything goes well, GW Pharmaceuticals would be the first-ever in the United States to be granted FDA approval for a drug that is entirely derived from the cannabis plant.

See the original article at CannabizDaily