Pubdate: Thu, 10 Apr 2014
Source: Times, The (Gainesville, GA)
Copyright: 2014 Gainesville Times
Contact:  http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2701
Author: Kathleen Foody, Associated Press

GOVERNOR BACKS MEDICAL MARIJUANA TRIALS

ATLANTA - Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal on Thursday announced two separate
efforts to pursue clinical trials on a cannabis-based drug that has
shown promise in helping children who suffer from seizure disorders.

The first would pair a private pharmaceutical company with a Georgia
Regents University professor and expand ongoing clinical trials of a
product using cannabidiol, or CDB, a compound in marijuana that
doesn't produce a high in users.

The second model would create a new clinical trial led by the
university, with cannabis obtained from the National Institute on Drug
Abuse research farm at the University of Mississippi. A new trial
likely would take longer to begin because it requires more steps for
federal approval, Deal said.

Neither option will mean quick relief for children whose parents have
campaigned for a state law allowing them to use cannabis oil orally to
help treat seizures. Georgia lawmakers ultimately failed to pass a
bill.

Deal's announcement is the latest indication that Republicans are more
inclined to support medical marijuana in limited forms and move away
from the argument that all research is a slippery slope toward
widespread marijuana use. Georgia and Alabama are among 11 states
where lawmakers considered limited medical marijuana programs this
year.

Rep. Allen Peake, who sponsored a stymied bill this session, said
support from the governor and the state university system could speed
up approval of either trial by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration.

"That can only help move the ball a lot quicker than it normally
would," Peake said.

There is little scientific research on cannabis oil. Proponents say
the product, available legally in Colorado, has helped children there.

Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals is considering Georgia Regents University
as one of the sites to run a clinical drug trial of cannabidiol for
treating forms of epilepsy in children, Dr. Yong Park of the
university said.

Park, who specializes in pediatric epilepsy and treats patients at
Children's Hospital of Georgia, said he knows parents will be eager to
try anything that could help their children.

"Everybody's watching this one," Park said. He hopes to begin
recruiting patients this year if the university is selected as a trial
site.

A state-run drug trial could take longer. Both the National Institute
on Drug Abuse and the FDA would have to approve parts of the plan.

Shannon and Blaine Cloud want their 8-year-old daughter, Alaina, to be
a participant if either drug trial moves forward. Alaina has regular
seizures caused by Dravet syndrome, a form of epilepsy. Shannon Cloud
said the couple is aware clinical trials can take a long time to get
started. But they said they hope medication using cannabis oil could
transform their daughter's life.

"It would actually get us to know who she really is," Blaine Cloud
said. 
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