Patent No. 6,630,507: Why the U.S. government holds a patent on cannabis plant compounds

[nationalize the fed]

It’s about technology transfer, not legalization

The Denver Post By ALICIA WALLACE | [e-mail]
PUBLISHED: August 28, 2016

It may not have quite the same ring to it as a certain seven-digit phone number made famous by a 1980s pop hit, but 6,630,507 has become internet-famous since the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration opted not to reschedule marijuana, leaving it in the category of drugs with no legitimate medical uses.


Photo courtesy of Willie's Reserve -Willie Nelson holds up a container of his branded marijuana with “6630507” written on it. Following the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s inaction on rescheduling marijuana, legalization proponents have responded by taking to the internet to highlight Patent No. 6,630,507, which covers the potential use of non-psychoactive cannabinoids.

Since then, proponents of legalization have responded with a storm of social-media posts highlighting U.S. Patent No. 6,630,507, granted in 2003 to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and covering the potential use of non-psychoactive cannabinoids to protect the brain from damage or degeneration caused by certain diseases, such as cirrhosis. They’re telling the DEA to “talk to the hand,” writing “6,630,507” on their palms, hashtagging the number and linking to past articles on the topic.

The intent of the posts is symbolic, said Sam Mendez, an intellectual property and public policy lawyer who serves as the executive director of the University of Washington’s Cannabis Law & Policy Project...snip

...Five years ago, the NIH granted New York-based Kannalife Sciences Inc. an exclusive license for the part of the technology outlined in the patent to develop cannabinoid- and cannabidiol-based drugs for the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy — brain damage that could result from conditions such as cirrhosis. Kannalife also has a non-exclusive license to develop drugs to treat chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a rare and progressive degenerative brain condition likely caused by repeated head trauma, Myles said...snip

Kannalife: https://www.kannalife.com/

Read More: http://www.denverpost.com/2016/08/28/what-is-marijuana-patent-6630507/

US PATENT #6630507

United States Patent 6,630,507
Hampson , et al. October 7, 2003
Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services (Washington, DC)

Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants

Abstract

Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia.

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6630507.PN.&OS=PN/6630507&RS=PN/6630507

Next time a Fed stands up in front of microphones and says "There is no medical use for marijuana" you'll have proof that they are lying. This patent has been posted here for years. So it's not exactly news to many.

[tymorial]

1. You all just don't understand

If marijuana is legalized how will the government manage without those millions of dollars in seized assets and cash from drug busts.

[Calculating]

5. Don't forget the money lost by big pharma/alcohol/prison

The war on cannabis is effectively the government protecting corporations and law enforcement interests.

[MiniMe]

11. By taxing it, just like they tax liquor

[tymorial]

12. THe way it works currently

The agency keeps the assets that they seize and it is absorbed into their operations budget. Taxing means legislation which individual agencies want to avoid hence my original sarcastic remark. This all comes down to the DEA and other agencies not wanting to give up a huge portion of their operating costs which are not set by congress.

[TeamPooka]

2. Prohibition is a failed public policy, again.

[msongs]

3. there should be no patents on natural products nt

[Major Nikon]

4. Then what would be the motivation for developing new natural products?

[ronnie624]

6. It will become increasingly apparent in the coming decades,

that greed is not a good prime-mover for sophisticated economic activity and technological advancement. We know intuitively, that it is the root cause of injustice.

[Major Nikon]

8. I wouldn't hold my breath on that one

Greed has been working better in that regard than anything else, at least in the last 5,000 years or so of recorded history and almost certainly well before that. If one can't hope to improve one's lot in life through hard work motivated by greed, then we really will have injustice on a scale most westerners can't even imagine.

[ronnie624]

13. I think greed is an exaggeration of the need for security.

Everyone needs to feel secure, in order to be productive members of a given society, and accumulating an abundance of resources (being rich) may seem to provide one with security, but it's an illusion. Our greed based economy will eventually destroy our biosphere, which is clearly demonstrated by the data on climate change. So in actuality, capitalism/consumerism threatens our security.

The foundational source of energy for our economic structure, is human labor. The working class invest the greatest amount of personal energy in the perpetuation of economics, but do not recieve an adequate return on their investment. This is clearly demonstrated by the poverty in the world, and by the lack of basic services like access to health care and education. The greed-based system, designed to enrich the few at the expense of the many, is a fundamental source of inequality and injustice in the world. It may have 'worked' centuries ago, but it will not serve the interests of an advanced civilization that faces the impending problems on our horizon.

[Major Nikon]

14. Perhaps

But the flip side to that is total socialism has never successfully addressed the problems you cite either, and those who have tried it tend to have the highest social inequities of all. So I tend to be a bit skeptical of simply pointing out an ill and claiming there's a miracle cure. What really threatens security is corruption of the process and this happens pretty much universally regardless of which economic system is in place. The societies which have the very best handle on that problem tend to be those who place more efforts on the integrity of the process rather than relying on gravitating towards absolutes in their economic system.

[nationalize the fed]

7. Plants can't be patented (yet)

well GMO's can but you can't patent a cannabis plant, as Dr. Lester Grinspoon pointed out in the early 90's.

But if you read the patent 6630507 it is granted (to the US GOV DHHS) on the USE of cannabinoids.

In any event, clearly, by the records in the US Patent office, when anyone says there are no medical benefits to the cannabis plant they are either ignorant or lying, and probably both. Is there no reporter in the country that can stand up and ask about this blatant hypocrisy? Apparently not.

"Herb is not a drug" --The Honourable Bob Marley

[Major Nikon]

9. Plant Patent Act of 1930

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_Patent_Act_of_1930

[KewlKat]

10. kick