Four months into his FDA service, Birenbaum said establishing national standards for safe use of hemp and for using cannabis-based ingredients as drugs is the next step in his work to bring safety along with access to the market.

“I’m not sure that there are a lot of products that follow the same type of story in history, particularly looking at the conflict between states’ permissive regulatory structures and federal prohibitions,” he said.

“It’s one of the reasons why this area is so interesting. It’s one of the reasons why I’m so happy to be working with FDA. I’ve been working on how to solve these problems in a way that’s responsible to safeguard public health and safety at the state level now for seven or eight years and have had the pleasure of working with FDA and other federal agencies on these issues over that time as well. I’m just grateful for the opportunity to take my experience and contribute now at the federal level.”

As Quantity Of Cannabis IND Applications Grows, US FDA Has ‘Quality Considerations’ Guidance

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