US approves import of Canadian cannabis extracts for research purposes

Tilray, a major Canadian producer of (so far) medical cannabis, has received a rare authorization from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to export medical cannabis to the USA for clinical testing.

The University of San Diego in California (UCSD) will receive capsules produced by Tilray and containing CBD and THC to study their effectiveness in treating tremors, a neurological disorder affecting millions of people, particularly those over 65.

Cannabis research is particularly difficult in the USA, where the substance is illegal and still classified as a Schedule 1 prohibited substance, a list of substances with no medical effect. The only solution for research is to go through the University of Mississippi, which has one of the only federal licenses to grow cannabis, but production is too limited, both in quantity and quality.

«This is an important milestone for Tilray and for the industry as a whole.» said Catherine Jacobson, Director of Research at Tilray. «Researchers in the USA have always been limited to using dried flowers for their research. We were able to show the FDA that we can produce products for research purposes which contain cannabinoids while respecting their standards.»

Fatta Nahab, neurologist and associate professor at UCSD, explained that the process of agreement and importation took several months.

«It's an oral capsule formulation that actually contains plants, said Nahab. «It's a purified medical-grade formulation and, to my knowledge, it's never been imported from Canada before.».

«We have a fixed, very consistent dosing system, and that's really going to help us drive the field forward a lot more» for Nahab.

Tilray capsules have a CBD:THC ratio of 20:1 to minimize psychoactive effects in study participants. The University hopes to have 16-20 patients, and begin research in early 2019. Researchers will record tremors with a device attached to participants' wrists and record changes in intensity.

«Tremors are 10 times more common than Parkinson's disease, yet nobody really knows about them,» said Nahab. «That we are finally arriving at a potential therapeutic option in an unexploited area is a big challenge.»