Marinol Prescription

For those who suffer from the side affects of chemotherapy, symptoms of HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, inability to eat enough to maintain weight, glaucoma, and other medical conditions that may be relieved with marijuana must turn to their doctors and request Marinol prescriptions.

The question that many have is…“Why can’t I just legally smoke marijuana instead?” The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulates drugs that are illegal and that fall under controlled substances. None of the FDA approved medications are ever administered through smoking. Marijuana is commonly smoked so the FDA cannot approve marijuana use for the treatment of health problems and diseases that may benefit from marijuana use. The reasons that smoking marijuana is not legalized for medical use:

  • Inconsistency in strength of drug the is administered through smoking
  • Inability to regulate amount of drug per “dose”
  • Carcinogens and poisons that are in trace amounts in marijuana that is smoked
  • Additional

The FDA acknowledges the benefits of marijuana in treatment for a growing list of health problems, treatment side affects, and diseases, so that is why it has approved the use of Marinol with a prescription.

There is still some controversy regarding smoking marijuana or taking Marinol to treat illnesses and pain. Even with the concerns listed above, many supporters of legalizing smoking marijuana feel that smoking marijuana is more affective and provides faster relief to pain and to treat side affects of treatments like chemotherapy.

Marinol is the brand name for the generic prescription drug called dronabinol, which is man-made form of THC. It was not until 1986 that Marinol was made available to patients, with a prescription. Marinol is commonly prescribed to patents to treat the side affects of chemotherapy treatments and to treat wasting syndrome that HIV/AIDS patients suffer from.

PRESCRIPTION MARINOL DRUG INFORMATION

Capsules for oral administration of Marinol:

  • Round, soft gelatin capsules containing
  • 2.5 mg, 5 mg, or 10 mg of dronabinol
  • 2.5 mg capsules contain the following inactive ingredients: gelatin, glycerin, sesame oil, and titanium dioxide
  • 5 mg capsules contain the following inactive ingredients: iron oxide red and iron oxide black, gelatin, glycerin, sesame oil, and titanium dioxide
  • 10 mg capsules contain the following inactive ingredients: iron oxide red and iron oxide yellow, gelatin, glycerin, sesame oil, and titanium dioxide

Metabolism of prescription Marinol:

  • Dronabinol in Marinol undergoes extensive first-pass hepatic metabolism, mainly by microsomal hydroxylation, yielding both active and inactive metabolites
  • The dronabinol in Marinol and its main active metabolite, 11-OH-delta-9-THC, are present in about equal concentrations in plasma.
  • Concentrations of both parent drug and metabolite peak at approximately 0.5 to 4 hours after oral administration and will decline over several days.
  • The values for clearance of Marinol average about 0.2 L/kg-hr, but are highly variable due to the complexity of cannabinoid distribution.

Elimination of prescription Marinol:

  • Dronabinol in Marinol and its biotransformation products are excreted in both feces and urine.
  • Biliary excretion of Marinol is the major route of elimination with about half of a radio-labeled oral dose being recovered from the feces within 72 hours and 10 to 15% recovered from urine.
  • Less than 5% of an oral dose of prescription Marinol is recovered unchanged in the feces.
  • After a single dose of prescription Marinol, low levels of dronabinol metabolites have been detected for more than 5 weeks in the urine and feces.

Marinol prescriptions will continue to be prescribed to help people with a variety of health issues.

Marinol

Find out more about Marinol.