[armedoldhippy]

in a stunning display of blatant hypocrisy, the maker of the synthetic painkiller Fentanyl (yes, the drug that heroin dealers mix with product & kill customers with) has given half a million dollars to help in the fight against medical marijuana in Arizona. "oh gosh! we can't have people using drugs that we don't make a profit on! SOMETHING needs to be done!" yes, it does. i vote to burn down their facility before any more heroin addicts are killed by these merchants of death...

[mowood3479]

Although, I hate big pharma as much as the next guy. I'd like to point out that most of the fentanyl laced heroin that is killing heroin users in the u.s. Is made in clandestine labs in China.
Not to say this companies products haven't killed thousands (or more).... They have for sure.
They've also helped thousands of people die without intolerable pain from bone cancers and other extremely painful ailments.
The biggest issue I see is that for profit companies can "donate" $ to politicians and their campaigns.
Idk how to fix it...but as long as we have big biz donating millions to get people elected our elected officials will do what they're paid to do (further the interests of corporations).
Ahh well. I'm off to work. Doin the drywall at the new McDonald's.

[armedoldhippy]

Originally Posted by mowood3479

Although, I hate big pharma as much as the next guy. I'd like to point out that most of the fentanyl laced heroin that is killing heroin users in the u.s. Is made in clandestine labs in China.
Not to say this companies products haven't killed thousands (or more).... They have for sure.
They've also helped thousands of people die without intolerable pain from bone cancers and other extremely painful ailments.
The biggest issue I see is that for profit companies can "donate" $ to politicians and their campaigns.
Idk how to fix it...but as long as we have big biz donating millions to get people elected our elected officials will do what they're paid to do (further the interests of corporations).
Ahh well. I'm off to work. Doin the drywall at the new McDonald's.

good points, Mowood. i don't think that anyone would deny the need for pain relief. i just hate the hypocrisy involved when a company making millions of dollars from pain fights to try to force people to buy their products when many times there is a less dangerous (and cheaper) option...

[mr.brunch]

They don't want you growing your own medicine for free, much better to synthesise those chemicals and fck half the world over.
That's what they did to opium.

[trichrider]

https://theintercept.com/2016/09/12/...oid-marijuana/

Pharma Company Funding Anti-Pot Fight Worried About Losing Business, Filings Show
Lee Fang
Sep. 12 2016, 8:17 a.m.

Pharmaceutical executives who recently made a major donation to an anti-marijuana legalization campaign claimed they were doing so out of concern for the safety of children — but their investor filings reveal that pot poses a direct threat to their plans to cash in on a synthetic cannabis product they have developed.

On August 31, Insys Therapeutics Inc. donated $500,000 to Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, becoming the single largest donor to the group leading the charge to defeat a ballot measure in Arizona to legalize marijuana.

The drug company, which currently markets a fast-acting version of the deadly painkiller fentanyl, assured local news reporters that they had the public interest in mind when making the hefty donation. A spokesperson told the Arizona Republic that Insys opposes the legalization measure, Prop. 205, “because it fails to protect the safety of Arizona’s citizens, and particularly its children.”

A Washington Post story on Friday noted the potential self-interest involved in Insys’s donation.

Investor filings examined by The Intercept confirm the obvious.

Insys is currently developing a product called the Dronabinol Oral Solution, a drug that uses a synthetic version of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to alleviate chemotherapy-caused nausea and vomiting. In an early filing related to the dronabinol drug, assessing market concerns and competition, Insys filed a disclosure statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission stating plainly that legal marijuana is a direct threat to their product line:

Legalization of marijuana or non-synthetic cannabinoids in the United States could significantly limit the commercial success of any dronabinol product candidate. … If marijuana or non-synthetic cannabinoids were legalized in the United States, the market for dronabinol product sales would likely be significantly reduced and our ability to generate revenue and our business prospects would be materially adversely affected.

Insys explains in the filing that dronabinol is “one of a limited number of FDA-approved synthetic cannabinoids in the United States” and “therefore in the United States, dronabinol products do not have to compete with natural cannabis or non-synthetic cannabinoids.”

The company concedes that scientific literature has argued the benefits of marijuana over synthetic dronabinol, and that support for marijuana legalization is growing. In the company’s latest 10-K filing with the SEC, in a section outlining competitive threats, Insys warns that several states “have already enacted laws legalizing medicinal and recreational marijuana.”

Subsys, the fentanyl spray Insys makes, is used as a fast-acting pain reliever. Fenatyl is an opioid that has made headlines in recent years as the number of Americans overdosing on the drug has skyrocketed. Fenatyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and has been linked to the death of Prince earlier this year. Last month, two Insys executives pled guilty to a pay-for-play scheme to use speakers fees as a way to get doctors to prescribe Subsys.

Marijuana advocates claim that legalized pot has a variety of medical uses, including pain relief.

It’s not the first time pharmaceutical companies have helped bankroll the opposition to marijuana reform. The Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America, a nonprofit that organizes anti-marijuana activism across the country, has long received corporate sponsorship from Purdue Pharma, the makers of Oxycontin, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, another opioid manufacturer.

J.P. Holyoak, chairman of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, a group supporting the legalization ballot measure, released a statement condemning the Insys donation. “Our opponents have made a conscious decision to associate with this company,” Holyoak said. “They are now funding their campaign with profits from the sale of opioids — and maybe even the improper sale of opioids.”

[kakaman]

I cant believe even to this day if you try to tell most people pharma companies pay politicians to keep cannabis illegal because they cannot patent a plant they think its a paranoid conspiracy theory, people react like " wheres your tin foil hat comrade, think the evil corporations are out to get ya duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu de?????????

[RonSmooth]

Originally Posted by kakaman

I cant believe even to this day if you try to tell most people pharma companies pay politicians to keep cannabis illegal because they cannot patent a plant they think its a paranoid conspiracy theory, people react like " wheres your tin foil hat comrade, think the evil corporations are out to get ya duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu de?????????

It sounds like paranoid conspiracy theory because it isnt very logical.

There are probably a few reasons why it is illegal. The first one is that it was associated with Mexican people at a time when racism was rampant. Politicians sold the idea of crazed Mexicans getting high on marijuana and raping white women. Its classic fear mongering and has been a proven vote-getter since forever (see terrorism)

Once it was put in the same class as heroin and cocaine, it effectively ended any research into the medical benefits. It wasn't worth it for pharmaceutical companies. They have done pretty well without it for a while now.

Big Pharm didn't patent the opium poppy and that doesn't seem to have hindered their profits from opiate based medication. Most likely they would isolate the active compounds and formulate a drug that they could patent (see Marinol)

Most people would rather buy a pill than grow a plant anyway. Do you grow your own vegetables?

While cannabis may have some definite health benefits, it is not the be all end all of pharmacology. It is not nearly as effective in treating pain as opiates. The conditions that it does seem to show potential in are narrow markets. Just not worth the time and resources it takes to manufacture cannabis. At least for now.

Its not so much big pharma as it is big business in general. The real thing to worry about is the monopolies that will control the industry when it does become completely legal across the US.

[mr.brunch]

Big pharma can't patent the opium poppy, or cannabis, as they are plants. All they can do is extract and recombine to make a formula that is patentable.

The medical applications that cannabis shows potential for is far from narrow, there is work being done across the world right now in many different countries- not just the USA.


I do grow my own vegetables.... They taste much better than a vitamin pill.

[kakaman]

The pharma companies dont have to compete with people growing their own opium poppies because most people dont support that activity. The negative effects of opium is based in facts and has been know for thousands of years. Unlike opium people can and do grow there own cannabis legally and use it for medicine instead of buying synthetic drugs. Its popular use puts it in direct competition with pharmaceutical companies.

[weedaholic721]

Opiate use is a very complex issue but it's clear they are openly opposing it as they see it as competition to their sales. What doesn't make sense, however, is cannabis is very hit or miss for pain. For some it's the greatest relief, for others it does nothing for pain, for others still, it can increase their pain significantly. Opioids fall under the same pattern. Since they both would still be utilized, most likely for different pain types and diseases, Do they really stand to lose much money with cannabis legalization? Prescription fentanyl is very small market already.

Key example, when I had a extremely large gauge tube inserted into my chest for a collapsed lung from a car accident, I had to be awake and they gave me fentanyl before insertion. It still hurt like hell but there's no way cannabis would have been helpful to stop that level of pain.

The old saying goes, when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. I guess Insys wants to make sure doctors only have sledgehammers available.