Denver awards first license for medical marijuana R&D

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The city of Denver issued its first medical marijuana research and development license to study MJ-related treatments for diseases.

The license went to Denver-based medical marijuana company MedPharm.

The permit allows the company to cultivate, process, manufacture and transfer marijuana to other laboratories or cannabis businesses for research purposes.

Albert Gutierrez, CEO of MedPharm, told Marijuana Business Daily that a lot of the past research has relied on “subpar” cannabis.

“Our focus is on providing high-quality dosage forms,” he said.

MedPharm’s first project will be to study marijuana’s effect on Alzheimer’s and dementia. The company hopes to start that project by the end of 2020.

MedPharm has its own in-house laboratory to conduct studies, and it will work with others such as neurologists and laboratories that can, for example, conduct brain scans.

In addition, the company is seeking partnerships.

The license resulted out of Colorado House Bill 17-1367, which took effect in 2018.

The Denver City Council approved creating these licenses locally on April 13.

“Our hope is that this new license type will lead to effective treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s and other debilitating diseases so the full promise of legalized marijuana can be fulfilled,” Denver Excise and Licenses Executive Director Ashley Kilroy said in a statement.

MedPharm was part of the 14-company acquisition spree that Schwazze, formerly known as Medicine Man Technologies, went on last year.

– Bart Schaneman