The University of Nebraska's medical school is planning a study on the plant-based epilepsy drug Epidiolex. Pictured: Caitlin Jimenez waters plants in one of the hoop houses at a hemp-growing facility in Pueblo in June 2015. (Denver Post file)

Nebraska med school seeking test subjects for CBD research study

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By The Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. — The University of Nebraska’s medical school is seeking 25 people for a study of a medication derived from marijuana.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha says the study will investigate the use of cannabidiol (CBD) in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy who also will take anti-epileptic drugs.

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Cannabidiol is extracted from the marijuana plant — Cannabis sativa — and is distinct from the component that makes people high.

The study medication is called Epidiolex. It’s described as a plant-based pharmaceutical formulation of pure cannabidiol and contains only trace amounts of the psychoactive component of cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

The study is authorized under a legislative bill approved in 2015.