There wasn’t much of a choice for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when, in the spring of 2018, it was deciding whether or not to give final approval to Epidiolex, a brand-new CBD-based drug. Over multiple randomized, placebo-controlled drug trials, the drug had been administered to 516 people who were suffering from two rare forms of epilepsy. The results spoke for themselves: CBD had reduced the amount and severity of seizures the patients experienced.
The FDA approved Epidiolex. This was, of course, a boon for people who suffer from these disorders, but it also undercut the federal government’s prohibition of pot, which the Feds still maintain has a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. It’s a big deal: By approving Epidiolex, the FDA told the world that the government’s history of cannabis prohibition is, in a word, bullshit.
This historic moment was, in many ways, thanks to a bunch of rebellious queers in San Francisco way back when.
Let me explain.
