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A Case For
Collaboration:
Can the Pharmaceutical
Industry exist in symbiosis
with the Medical Marijuana
Industry? Better yet, can they
collaborate?
By Daniel R. Gaita, MA
(September 2015)
The following case is being presented to offer suggestions to reduce
individual and national health care cost, while improving upon the
current health care paradigm via symbiotic collaboration between the
Pharmaceutical and Medical Marijuana industries.
The Main Premises:
In order for future considerations to be explored we must first agree
upon the cultural, social, judicial and legislative paradigm that:
1. The Health Care System (HCS) exists to diagnose and treat
patients; to reduce the burden of health related human suffering and
increase overall quality of life.
2. If a more effective, safe and less expensive method exists to
improve health care, then an avenue for legal, and scientific research
should be expedited by all governing authorities to ascertain efficacy
according to scientific method.
3. If the current systems are obstructing the evolution of the health
care system from accomplishing its mission, than it needs to be fixed.

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Pharmaceutical Industry Considerations:

Todays system of
pharmaceuticals are
instrumental to the
current health care
industry. However, they
are all (primarily) set up
as corporate entities that
have a legal and fiduciary
obligation to the
shareholders of each
respective agency.
(Armour, Hansmann, &
Kraakman, 2009, p. 6).
Any obvious threat to market share (profit) is counter to the survival
and profitability of the agency and thus competition; marketing and
political strategies must be employed to mitigate any threat to the
entities fiduciary obligations.
While the American pharmaceutical industry is essential to todays
health care system, its legal corporate structures are contrary to the
purpose of the health care system, in that these corporate entities
dont work with one another for the sake of healthcare, but rather
compete against each other for profit and market share. Most might
call this an ethical dilemma or a conflict of interest. But here in
America it is simply called capitalism. It is the system we must learn to
work within, and we can.
Medical Marijuana Industry
Considerations:
Medical Marijuana appears to
better treat a multitude of
symptoms and conditions than
pharmaceutical industry
products while also
demonstrating it can reduce
symptoms of opioid-based
withdrawal and addiction by
those that once relied upon
them for pain management
(Gaita, 2015, p. 1).
Marijuana has long been touted
as a gateway drug and has
been demonized throughout the
recent century by politicians, social elites, school administrations,

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health departments, and most notably in the 1936, church group

financed film, Tell Your Children, which was later released throughout
1938 and all the way through the 1950s as a propaganda exploitation
motion picture better remembered as Reefer Madness whereby
marijuana users are portrayed as, murderers and rapist, that
descended into madness via hallucinations. Ironically it would be
rediscovered in the 1970s and used as a satirical film for cannabis
policy reform advocates (Murphy 2005).
Today much has changed. Thousands of case studies have been, are
being, and will soon be conducted on the growing list of conditions
being treated by this once demonized plant that can be grown in most
of the worlds populated climates (Cannabis Medicines, n.d.).
The list of medical conditions and symptoms medical marijuana has
been shown to treat would require nearly 150 pharmaceutical
compounds. Each with its own name and each with its own prescribed
dosages. What once took 150 pills to treat may very well be
accomplished with one diverse plant and its many strains, Cannabis.
(Cannabis Medicines, n.d.)
The Obvious Dilemma:
If Medical Marijuana is working or
even perceived as more efficacious
than her competitor
Pharmaceuticals, well then, Medical Marijuana just found itself a multibillionaire enemy and a team of lawyers (congress) it pays (through
campaign contributions) to write their laws. Here is where the
collaborative work begins.
The Collaboration Concept:
Can the pharmaceutical industry
profit from, improve production,
availability, and reduce cost of
Medical Marijuana by collaborating
with the current industry players? I
believe they can, they should, and
that the continuous delay in
accomplishing this task are both
immoral and inhumane as they
(delays) arguably prolong and
increase human suffering, and health care cost. But how do these two
industries exist symbiotically?

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The growing and production facilities being erected by the pioneers of

the industry can and should be considered as profit avenues for the
pharmaceutical agencies. Rather than compete, collaborate.
Not only are the pharmaceutical companies poised for mass-production
of medical marijuana, but they already possess the financial and
political capital needed to expedite the legal (legislative) language
shifts and drug classification that has held the benefits of cannabinoids
hostage since the 1930s. The current medical marijuana growers
already know how, but the pharmaceuticals know where.
The current system of pharmaceuticals is very lucrative and supports
the families of tens of thousands of employees. It has many working
gears in place and has earned a place in our nations health care
system through models of efficacy determined through rigorous
scientific method and required clinical trials. So why tinker with it?
Because the data also shows that the same drugs being produced to
treat one set of symptoms is
also creating entire new
conditions and symptoms
that are having harmful
effects on the health care
system and its patients.
Drug addition, suicide,
dependence, and the myriad
of side effects that cascade through prescription-pill commercials are
all examples of this pharmaceutical phenomenon. So how is marijuana
any different?
Not one single death has been attributed to a marijuana overdose. Yet,
the United States is in the midst of a prescription painkiller overdose
epidemic. (CDC, n.d)
It is now the time for the various agencies, corporations, and
legislators to formulate a strategy that provides for all involved
entities.

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References
Armour, J., Hansmann, H., Kraakman, R., (2009). Harvard Center for
Law, Economics, and Business, The Essential Elements of
Corporate Law: What is Corporate Law? Retrieved September
15th, 2015, from
http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/olin_center/papers/pdf/Kra
akman_643.pdf
Cannabinoid Medicines, (n.d). International Association for Cannabinoid
Medicines, List of Clinical Studies. Retrieved September 15th,
2015, from http://www.cannabis-med.org/english/studies.pdf
CDC, (n.d.) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Prescription
Drug Overdose. Retrieved September 15th, 2015, from
http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/
Gaita, Daniel, R., (2015). Medical Marijuana vs. Standard
Pharmaceuticals, A Case Study. Retrieved September 15th, 2015,
from: https://www.scribd.com/doc/281205755/Medical-Marijunavs-Standard-Pharmaceutacals-Case-Study?
secret_password=0P3mIy1HlnWK4u9b4QCH
Murphy, K., Studney, D., (2005). The History of Reefer Madness.
Retrieved September 15th, 2015, from:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060328163318/http://www.reefermadness-movie.com/history.html