Marijuana-based drug gets positive review from US agency

Marijuana-based drug gets positive review from US agency
This May 23, 2017, file photo shows GW Pharmaceuticals’ Epidiolex, a medicine made from the marijuana plant but without TCH. The medicine reduced seizures in children with severe forms of epilepsy and warrants approval in the United States, health officials said Tuesday, April 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Kathy Young, File)

A closely watched medicine made from the marijuana plant reduces seizures in children with severe forms of epilepsy and warrants approval in the United States, health officials said Tuesday.

British drugmaker GW Pharmaceuticals is seeking permission to sell its purified form of an ingredient found in cannabis—one that doesn’t get users high—as a medication for rare, hard-to-treat seizures in children. If successful, the company’s liquid formula would be the first government-approved drug derived from the cannabis plant in the U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration’s approval would technically…

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