Nandu Sarma, PhD is director for the Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicine Program at U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP). Dr. Sarma leads strategy and external global stakeholder engagement for new and innovative projects including cannabis.
More than 200 years old, USP is a public health organization with the twin objectives is to reduce risk and to promote research. It’s an independent scientific organization that collaborates with the world’s top experts in health and science to develop quality standards for medicines, dietary supplements, and food ingredients. Cannabis was described in USP for the first time in 1850 and was removed in 1942 as a result of the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act which made the use and possession of cannabis federally illegal. A cannabis monograph has not been developed since then because of the federal status in the United States.
How do you control the name of the cultivar connected with the quantity specifications and quality specifications in terms of identity? … This is an area where USP brings its strength in terms of providing these inputs so that eh risk of harm to the patient from substandard adulterated contaminated products is avoided.”
With its focus on public quality standards, USP formed the Cannabis Expert Panel in 2016 for a discussion on developing quality standards for cannabis. Most recently under Dr. Sarma’s leadership, USP released a statement for addressing the potential health risks that delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing products pose to the public.
Dr. Sarma brings his expertise to a roundtable discussion with fellow global medical cannabis experts on January 19, 2022, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm EST, for the CannabizMD webinar “Standardization of Cannabis Science Education for Healthcare Providers”. Visit www.CannabizMD.com for more information.
