Epidiolex

Fueled in part by CBD product sales and Canada's recent legalization of marijuana, the world's cannabis market could notch $15 billion this year.

Industry insiders are forecasting that global cannabis sales could total $14.9 billion in 2019, up 36% from 2018, according to a new report released Thursday.

Cannabis stocks were mostly lower Monday, as investors digested the first reports from Friday’s regulatory hearing on cannabis and its ingredients and the news that Illinois is legalizing weed for adult recreational use.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration conducted its first-ever hearing on cannabis and its nonintoxicating ingredient CBD all day Friday with more than 100 speakers offering views, including researchers, health professionals, advocates, manufacturers and opponents.

One of the key U.S. Senate committees has recently stated that the Scheduling of cannabis from the federal level is impeding the amount of research that can be done into life-saving cures or treatments. This battle has been going on for some time now, but it now seems as though cannabis could have a louder voice amongst the U.S.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the first cannabis-derived drug for sale, which has shown to control seizures in children with life-threatening forms of epilepsy.

Epidiolex, manufactured by GW Pharmaceuticals in the UK, is made from cannabidiol, the non-psychoactive part of the cannabis plant. It was made for children 2 and older who are diagnosed with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, two serious forms of epilepsy that cause life-long developmental delays.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the first cannabis-derived drug for sale, which has shown to control seizures in children with life-threatening forms of epilepsy.

Epidiolex, manufactured by GW Pharmaceuticals in the UK, is made from cannabidiol, the non-psychoactive part of the cannabis plant. It was made for children 2 and older who are diagnosed with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, two serious forms of epilepsy that cause life-long developmental delays.

It's not clear how quickly the drug will be available for prescription.

The legal landscape around CBD (cannabidiol) is unsettled and unclear, and it became even more confusing with today’s FDA approval of the CBD-based drug Epidiolex.

Epidiolex, a “pure plant-derived CBD” extract developed by the UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals, has been shown to drastically reduce seizures in large populations of children with epileptic syndromes. (For a clear explanation of what CBD is and how it affects the brain, see Leafly’s guide to cannabidiol by Dr. Dustin Sulak.)