FDA Chief Says Marijuana Legalization is an ‘Inevitability’

If you’ve ever wondered if people working for the federal government are aware that marijuana will eventually become legal, the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Commissioner is here to say yes they are.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb went on CNBC to discuss marijuana. While Gottlieb denied the idea that marijuana has any therapeutic value, he did say he believes it will inevitably be legal throughout the United States.

“Obviously it’s happening at the state level, and I think there’s an inevitably that it’s going to happen at the federal level at some point soon,” Gottlieb said.

Gottlieb mostly stayed away from making any direct comments about legalization. He said marijuana legalization isn’t under his agency’s purview, and their only responsibility was to make sure companies don’t make wild medical claims on cannabis products.

“We do regulate compounds that are making drug claims and we regulate botanical use of marijuana,” the commissioner said in the TV interview. “We have approved compounds derived from marijuana, but there is no demonstrated medical use of botanical marijuana. That’s the bottom line.”

Although it is a little weird he would say there’s no demonstrated medical use of marijuana when earlier this year the FDA approved a drug called Epidiolex, which contains CBD, a cannabinoid found in marijuana. So if marijuana has no medical use, why is the FDA approving drugs that use compounds that come from marijuana?