Dr. Robert Melamede Ph.D. and Cannabis Science Inc. Respond to an ABC News Report

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Aug 03, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Cannabis Science, Inc. (OTCBB: CBIS:) an emerging pharmaceutical cannabis company and its President & CEO, Dr. Robert Melamede Ph.D., the former Chairman (ret) of the Biology Department at the University of Colorado (Colorado Springs.) is responding to an article on the ABCNews.com website. Please click http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/story?id=8214468&page=1 to read the article in full. The article portrays the company's proposed use of cannabinoids in the treatment of Swine Flu as hoping "to one day make marijuana available nationwide to kids and teens -- as well as adults -- in the form of a medicinal throat lozenge."
Cannabis Science would like to Thank ABC News for giving us the opportunity to clear up common misunderstanding to the controversial issues surrounding medical marijuana as demonstrated in the their article. The article includes an interview with a "pulmonary specialist" who is not associated with Cannabis Science Inc. He is troubled by 'giving out THC like water', which is an action that Cannabis Science has never suggested or endorsed.
It goes on to quote the "pulmonary specialist" as saying, "I don't think many parents would want their kids 'on drugs' for a mild, flu-like illness." The Cannabis Science influenza formulation has never been suggested to treat 'mild flu like illness' in adults or children. It will be tested specifically to gain FDA approval for treating lethal conditions associated with any deadly influenza infections resulting in virally induced hyper inflammation.
The article concludes with a quote from the same doctor who says, "No doctor in his right mind would tell a flu patient to go smoke a joint." Cannabis Science agrees completely. Publicly in its news releases, Cannabis Science has repeatedly warned all medical marijuana consumers to not smoke cannabis when they have an influenza infection and that in fact it could be deadly.
Cannabis Science Inc., President & CEO, Dr. Robert Melamede Ph.D., responded by saying, "Some of the comments in this article are simply inaccurate. As an example, the article's emphasis on making 'marijuana available nationwide to kids and teens' implies our primary focus is 'kids and teens' and leaving adults as secondary. This is not true. In fact, we have never mentioned, 'kids and teens' in any of our public news release statements. We left this out intentionally because we believe this is a decision to be made by the FDA and subsequently upon approval of our drugs, by licensed physicians. In fact, what I told ABC News in my interview was that; our medical establishment routinely gives dangerous addictive narcotics to our children. If the use of medical marijuana would save the life of my child, I would have no qualms about using medical marijuana."
Additionally, Dr. Melamede notes, "psychoactive cannabinoids are in human mother's milk. If God thinks it's all right to use cannabinoids in an infant's first food, who am I to disagree? We believe one of our formulations will prevent many deaths caused by H1N1 Swine Flu and H5N1 Avian Flu. If our formulation becomes an FDA approved drug and works in adults, we believe that all parents and their physicians should have the right to choose the best treatment for a child with a potentially deadly illness. Public health officials have warned that H1N1 may be comparable to the 1918 Influenza Pandemic that killed tens of millions globally and hit young people especially hard. We are optimistic that the FDA has not and will not be distracted by non-science-based hysteria and will treat cannabis-based medicines based on documented science as evidenced by its advancement of other cannabis-based medicines going through the FDA approval process now."

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A note on eating cannabis confections.
If you take it orally (eating cookies, cakes, etc), you could be in for quite a ride. The liver metabolises THC into 11-OH-*9-THC, a compound three times more psychoactive. Foods made with high THC "heads" or hashish can give a powerful, almost psychedelic experience, which can be very uncomfortable if you're not expecting it. The effects are slower to come on (1 to 2 hours) and last considerably longer (around 4 hours).
Different people have different experiences. While one person might go to sleep, another might smile and laugh excessively, while another might have a panic attack. These are classic responses but they are by no means definitive. Experiences vary. If smoking cannabis makes you nervous or agitated, then consuming cookies (and indeed other temporarily mind altering drugs) may be inadvisable.
Do not assume cookies from different sources are of the same strength. Even different batches from the same source can vary.
Know thyself. Stay in your comfort zone. Try half a cookie first, and assess the effect.