Time-release cannabis pill coming

By Guest Column Israel21c —— Bio and Archives February 25, 2015

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As scientists and patients discover the pain-relief and healing properties of cannabis, more governments are legalizing the distribution of medical marijuana by prescription. Yet physicians remain uneasy about the way it’s administered (rolled up in smoking paper or dropped into a vaporizer) and the inability to measure exact dosages.

A two-year-old Israeli-American company, Cannabics Pharmaceuticals, says it has a revolutionary technology to put the medicinal compounds of cannabis into a sustained-release capsule in standardized doses. Cannabics SR, the company’s flagship product, is designed as a palliative pain treatment for cancer patients. In observational studies, it provided 10 to 12 hours of steady beneficial therapeutic effects. Clinical trials at a major Israeli medical center are planned this year to test its safety and efficacy. Because Cannabics SR can be classified as a cannabis-infused edible (a more sophisticated take on “pot brownies” and lozenges) for which a regulatory path already exists, no lengthy regulatory red tape is anticipated. More...