Another issue impacting this nascent industry is the lack of effective drug delivery platforms. The pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of a substance in the human body very much depends on the method of administration. Current methods used in marijuana drug research in the US, whether inhaled as smoke or vapor or taken orally in food or as whole plant extracts, do not allow for the efficient uptake of active ingredients in the body. The total lack of a controlled-delivery platform that ensures that precise, repeatable doses of specific pharmacological ingredients are administered is a significant impediment to establishing a cannabinoid-based drug industry.
Israel boasts by far the most progressive regulatory environment for medical cannabis use worldwide. Most recently Israel’s Health Ministry decided to allow distribution through pharmacies, driving the alignment of medical marijuana with other prescription drugs. Research on medical marijuana is being conducted from pre-clinical through all phases of clinical trials at leading FDA-approved hospitals.
Until now the vast majority of drug research and treatment is done using whole plant organic material or whole plant extracts. However, the establishment of a cannabis-based pharmacology requires a leap into the pharma world of precise, consistent formulations and advanced drug delivery systems. This can only be achieved through deriving the active ingredients from the plant and then re-combining them in a controlled platform.
In other words, the individual compounds within the plant have to be extracted at 99% purity in order to be formulated into a drug that can be delivered as a tablet, gel cap, dermal application, or some other FDA-accepted drug delivery system.
