Ltd.

Under the noses of the established world of pharmaceuticals pipelines bringing medicines to patients, over the past ten years, a quiet revolution has been brewing. Fueled by the discovery of an internal system in our bodies that manages our external homestasis, which has been dubbed the endocannabinoid system. The endocannabinoid system is a biological system composed of endocannabinoids, which are endogenous lipid-based retrograde neurotransmitters that bind to cannabinoid receptors, and cannabinoid receptor proteins that are expressed throughout the vertebrate central nervous system and peripheral nervous system. It has a significant role on central nervous system (CNS) development, synaptic plasticity, and the response to endogenous and environmental insults.

In simpler terms, there is a system in our body that controls our reactions to external and internal stimuli and allows us to handle these either badly (expressed via innumerable diseases, disorders and imbalances) or well (providing active intervention to infection, inflammation, tumor growth, and more).

In many ways, this discovery holds as much importance as the discovery of DNA. In a world full of internal and external challenges (stress, pollution, active viruses, flawed food supply chain, antibiotic resistance, and more), this system, if correctly understood, has the potential to defend our bodies and increase our body’s ability to ensure our own internal physical (and often as a result, mental) health.

Most would now say: “sounds incredible! You have the keys the kingdom in your hands!” And this could be true, if not for one significant fact – 100 years of demonization of the core element to our being able to unlock this incredibly promising system. Because the answers are all hiding in Cannabis. And Cannabis, as we all know, has defined as a BAD thing for as long as we can remember.

"An assumption that cannabis needs to be smoked, rolled or baked into a brownie is the most basic misunderstanding"

With this in mind I would like to start breaking down some of the challenges that I have seen over the ten years in an emerging, disruptive segment of the pharmaceutical industry.

a. General lack of understanding regarding the product – this could include an assumption that it needs to be smoked, rolled or baked into a brownie, which is the most basic misunderstanding, but the list goes on and gets more complicated, depending on who is being discussed.

b. Resistance to the idea that this can be a “real medicine” – an attitude from doctors that says “I’m only doing this because my patient is nagging me to death”, an attitude from regulators that we are providing some sort of subpar product to what they are used to dealing with, compounded by extra, bizarre layers of regulation and supervision that exist because of the presuppositions and further lack of understanding, an attitude from legislators that wants us to be held to  a higher standard than they hold the pharmaceutical companies they are currently suing for turning their populations into addicts.

c. Shortsightedness – “okay, cannabis is good for epilepsy, big deal, why do we have to make it legal all over suddenly?” cannabis is good for epilepsy in its most basic form, when delivered in truly the WORST way (burning). We already have treatments that use that basic knowledge to make medicines that are better than anything out on the market. That is after only 10 years of active research into a plant with 150 elements to it, each and every one of which can turn out to be a gamechanger for something, the way CBD has for epilepsy. This is not just a solution for one thing…this is a solution for so many things, that looking at this emerging industry as a trend or a gimmick is almost a crime for anyone in charge of future pipelines at pharma companies.

d. Arrogance – the assumption that these treatments won’t be more efficient than current medicines, that they won’t lower the incidence of adverse reactions because of less side effects, that they won’t change the public at large’s expectations from it’s medicine is, plain and simple, arrogant. Because people want to be healthy, and people aren’t stupid, and they see the world changing around them.

So, you might ask me, with all those obstacles, preconceptions and misconceptions, what are the solutions?

As usual, and as in any challenging industry, I have found that it is crucial to believe in what you are doing and keep plugging away. This may often feel like slogging through jello, but keeping forward momentum, even if it’s to the tune of a few prescriptions a month, or a minor regulatory hurdle cleared (or rather obliterated, which is more satisfying to be sure), or a major legal change in a landmark geography…these are the moments that validate much of the effort. More than anything, it’s being in contact with patients and seeing the incredible change in their quality of life, the quality of life of those around them, and their ability to do things they couldn’t have dreamed of ten years ago. The reason is, someone fought and kept on fighting to create an avenue to the wider market for these products, making me part of a legacy creating better health worldwide. I can’t imagine a better motivator.