Colorado moves to allow CBD prescriptions in advance of FDA decision

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed a bill to permit doctors to prescribe CBD medicines provided they have won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – a development that could happen within a matter of weeks.

An FDA advisory panel in April unanimously recommended that the agency approve Epidiolex, a CBD medicine designed to treat a rare form of epilepsy.

The FDA is expected to make a decision by late June.

British drugmaker GW Pharmaceuticals, which produces Epidiolex, has worked for years to enter the potentially lucrative U.S. drug market.

If the FDA approves the drug, it would be the first cannabis plant-derived medicine approved for the U.S. market, thereby instantly boosting the credibility of the MMJ market. Some synthetic cannabis products are already available.