The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a medical marijuana clinical trial led by the Yale University School of Medicine. Researchers say it’s the first of its type to be run on human subjects.
Cori Alicea has been using medical marijuana since she was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer in 2014.
“It helps me with every physical ability that I have, with talking and doing everything. My right side was completely numb after having my seizures and my surgeries from the craniotomies. This medicine has made it so that I am able to live my daily life.”
Alicea got medical marijuana from CTPharma. The Portland, Connecticut-based provider will supply oral tablets for the trial. Patients will take different combinations of THC and CBD, two compounds contained within cannabis. Yale doctor Rajita Sinha will lead the trial.
“We wanted to see if we can understand it better. How does it work? Who does it work for? What doses do you need? Which symptoms can be alleviated?”
Sinha says the trial will focus on how marijuana can help with stress and pain, symptoms she says are at the heart of a number of illnesses for which it’s already been approved.
