I know you were asking
@The ruster - hope you don't mind me butting in.
Definitely side effects of THC, but also the legal status of THC up until recently.
Look at this opinion of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, from 2018.
They recommended that:
"state legislators, regulators, and health departments exclude obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as an indication for medical cannabis programs.
The “unreliable delivery methods and insufficient evidence of treatment effectiveness, tolerability, and safety” of medical cannabis and its synthetic extracts are among the reasons the AASM gave for making its recommendations. “Further research is needed to better understand the mechanistic actions of medical cannabis and its synthetic extracts, the long-term role of these synthetic extracts on OSA treatment, and harms and benefits,” the AASM concluded in its statement,authored by Kannan Ramar, MD, and other members of a panel of experts on sleep medicine."
https://www.mdedge.com/chestphysician/article/163640/sleep-medicine/dont-use-cannabis-treat-osa-aasm-recommends
In some of the limited trial evidence on Dronabinol used for OSA, 90% of patients reported at least one adverse effect.
Just 4 years ago, that's where we were. We knew Dronabinol worked, but we also knew synthetic cannabinoids were a new thing, and THC famously has a pretty noticeable group of side effects when the dose surpasses a certain threshold...
As THC has become increasingly decriminalised, made legal for medical purposes and even recreational purposes, we edged into that grey zone where opportunity knocks for a company willing to risk development on a substance still in the balance.
We all know which way the wind is resolutely blowing with regulations, but we're not contemplating putting tens of millions of dollars and years of work into a development program: that perspective gives greater pause! Dronabinol (THC) is an approved treatment for cancer patients suffering acute nausea from chemotherapy, and HIV patients suffering weight loss and loss of appetite. Situations dire enough that folks are willing to forgo driving to take the drug. OSA isn't a matter of immediate emergency, making that decision far less clear cut... unless some way could be found to make an effective therapy with a low enough dose of Dronabinol that driving doesn't need to be sacrificed...
I think we'll find Incannex pinpointed the opportunity and a strategy for decreasing THC dosage while increasing efficacy, at the sweet spot in history. Sooner and the risk was greater... later and the patent may have ended in another company's portfolio. Someone had to be the first... it's ok that it was a small, new Australian biotech that took the leap. Us Australians do steal the prize from to time to time... LOLs
