Marijuana leaf (Associated Press file)

SD may allow CBD if FDA gives OK

PIERRE, S.D. — A state House panel has approved a bill that would allow people in South Dakota with a prescription to use a non-intoxicating compound found in marijuana if it’s approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The House Health and Human Services Committee voted 7-3 to approve the bill, which has passed through the Senate.

The legislation would exclude cannabidiol, if it receives FDA approved, from the definition of marijuana in state law and classify it as a Schedule IV controlled substance that could be prescribed.

Republican Sen. Blake Curd, the bill’s main sponsor, says cannabidiol is an attempt to treat intractable pediatric epilepsy.

London-based GW Pharmaceuticals’ Epidiolex, a nearly pure extract of cannabidiol, is scheduled for review by the FDA this summer.