Title: Technologies required to promote change in the cannabis medical field

Biography:

Roberto Paleco graduated with a master’s degree in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Ferrara. Roberto has also worked as a consultant in the cannabis field, due to his strong knowledge and expertise from the production to the extraction of cannabis products. His experience developed over the years from his personal passion for nature and his interest in cannabis cultivation. Based on his knowledge on plant biology and environmental research, he contributed on establishing Italian companies’ production of cannabis for different purposes. His passion for medical cannabis and his experience in medical research brought him to create an independent team of researcher with the scope of improving patients’ lives using enhanced and tailored cannabinoids-based medicines. This team is called ResearchCan.

Abstract

The use of medicinal cannabis has increased in the last decade with a large number of countries reviewing their legislation recently. Cannabinoids can be used for a large variety of conditions and it is already changing people lives. Despite recent changes in the global mentality and vision on cannabis, there is still a long way to go. The use of this therapeutic plant still faces limitations due to different economic and political reasons, and require a change in the approach from both Cannabis industry and researchers to work together into creating a new hope.

Our duty as medical researchers is to deliver superior medical products, and facilitate its access to a larger number of patients. The current misuse of cannabinoids, the high dosage and therapy costs, as well as the safety concerns translates into concerns by health professionals in prescribing these medicines. In countries that cannabis have been legalized, one of the major limitations of medical cannabis therapies is related to the inadequate products present in the market. These products lack appropriate technology and medical knowledge, despite the high level of innovation and excellence existent in the medical industry. This issue  limits the prescription of this medicine in different ways, reducing patient access and discouraging health professionals. The use of scientific-proven cannabinoids or extracts in combination with pharmaceutical technologies will create the real integration or replacement of cannabis in current medical therapies.

Pharmaceutical technologies are developed to increase bioavailability, promote fast drug on-set, deliver therapeutic compounds efficiently and target biological systems, avoiding unwanted side effects. The issues in medical cannabis can be overcome by drug combinations, by enhancing the delivery systems and by using appropriate medical devices. The use of these technologies can be sustained by a strong in vitro evaluation, which will unlock the real cannabis power  by fully exploiting its unique “entourage effect”.

At the moment, we have the minds and the technologies required to promote change in the cannabis medical field,  keeping in mind that providing the best treatment to the patients is our ultimate goal.