Medical Cannabis: From Herer's Argument to FDA-Approved Pharmaceuticals

“Herer compiled the medical cannabis literature in 1985. By 2025, the FDA had approved multiple cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals. The argument was correct. The implementation was not what he imagined.”

Chapter 6 of The Emperor Wears No Clothes compiled peer-reviewed research supporting cannabis's therapeutic applications. Writing in 1985, Herer documented evidence for cannabis efficacy in glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic pain, and cancer treatment side effects.

By 2025, the FDA had approved: prescription cannabidiol (cannabidiol for Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, 2018), dronabinol oral solution (synthetic THC for chemotherapy nausea, 2016), dronabinol (synthetic THC, 1985), and nabilone (nabilone for chemotherapy nausea, 1985, the same year Herer published).

The irony is precise: nabilone received FDA approval the same year Herer argued the Schedule I classification was scientifically unjustified. A synthetic cannabinoid was approved for the same indications the natural compound was prohibited from being used for.

Thirty-eight US states have medical cannabis programs as of 2025. Twenty-four have recreational adult-use programs. The combined legal cannabis market is approximately $40 billion annually.

What legalization has not produced is comprehensive access regardless of ability to pay. Medical cannabis is expensive, rarely covered by insurance, and variably available depending on state. The FDA-approved pharmaceuticals address narrow indications. Millions of patients using cannabis for chronic pain, anxiety, and insomnia exist in a gray zone that neither the pharmaceutical framework nor the recreational market adequately serves. Herer's argument was correct about the medical evidence. The policy infrastructure that followed is still being constructed.

Sources

• Herer The Emperor Wears No Clothes (1985)
• FDA Approved Cannabis-Derived Pharmaceuticals (2025)
• NORML Medical Cannabis Overview (2025)