Veterinarians Urge FDA To Allow Research On Medicinal Marijuana For Pets

Veterinarians are aiming to push for more research to be conducted on the use of medicinal marijuana for pets, according to reports. Due to the lack of data on whether it would be an adequate form of medication for pets, some animal doctors are anxious to see for further tests conducted.

Many people that are eager to relieve their pet's pain are turning to alternative medications, being oils and powders that contain cannabidiols (CBD), a non-psychoactive element of marijuana. These are often sold online through Amazon and Chewy, among other retailers. There is, however, a pushback from regulators that aren't anxious to move forward with medicinal marijuana research for pets.

"We lack the science to support use of medical marijuana products like CBD oils, not because researchers are unwilling to do the work, but because of bureaucratic red tape and over-regulation," Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican, said Friday to the Associated Press.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cautioned online retailers in 2016 about selling "unapproved animal drug" products. Therefore, veterinarians are prohibited from prescribing their pet clientele medicine that contains cannabis in any form. Companies that continue to produce such products are doing so in violation of the FDA's laws.

"It's illegal for drug companies to market unapproved new animal drugs because they haven't gone through the FDA pre-market review and obtained legal marketing status under the FD&C Act," the FDA wrote on its website. "Unapproved animal drugs may not meet the agency’s strict standards for safety and effectiveness and may not be properly manufactured or properly labeled."

While the FDA's announcement caused some researchers to halt their studies on the use of CBDs on pets, others have continued to push forward.

Researchers from Colorado State University (CSU) are searching for dogs with osteoarthritis or epilepsy to test treatment products that contain CBDs. Dogs that qualify to be apart of the research program would have to be recipients of standard anticonvulsants and suffering from at least two seizures monthly.

"The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of a component of the Cannabis sativa plant, cannabidiol (CBD), in treating canine epilepsy," researchers from CSU wrote on its website. "The CBD product is very low in the psychoactive component of cannabis, THC, making it safe for use in dogs."

"Each dog will be randomly assigned to either a control group or a treatment group, where they will receive the CBD oil or a placebo for 12 weeks," the researchers added.