VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Veritas Pharma Inc. (CSE:VRT) (OTC:VRTHF) and (Frankfurt:2VP), (“Veritas” or the “Company”) provides the following statement to the memorandum issued by United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions on marijuana enforcement on January 4, 2018.
Veritas believes that the memorandum dated January 4, 2018 issued by U.S. Attorney General Sessions, to repeal the Cole Memo, an Obama-era protection for States that have legalized marijuana is largely related to the recreational cannabis marketplace where individual States have allowed sales in the last twenty-four months. It does not affect the medical cannabis marketplace.
Veritas would like to assure shareholders that it will continue to be committed to advancing the science in medical, not recreational, cannabis in the U.S. states where medical cannabis is legal. The Company will also continue to pursue its existing strategy in the U.S. through its 80% owned subsidiary Cannevert Therapeutics Ltd., using research to support the growing demand for reliable medical grade cannabis specific to disease conditions such as pain, nausea, epilepsy, and PTSD.
The community of Americans who now rely on legal medical marijuana, estimated to be 2.6 million people in 2016, includes a variety of mainstream constituency groups like veterans, senior citizens, cancer survivors, and parents of epileptic children.
“The American Legion has been a leading advocate for the removal of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to enable greater research into the medical efficacy of the drug to treat ailments that impact veterans such as PTSD and chronic pain,” Joe Plenzler, Director of Media Relations for The American Legion, told POLITICO Magazine — which means Jeff Sessions just crossed the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization.
Veritas believes that the Sessions memorandum is not part of the realities of a modern United States, and that the shift in policy ignores the strong support on both sides of the aisle in the United States Congress, which is emphasized by the strong negative reaction from Congressional leadership to Attorney General Sessions’ memorandum.
Presently, over 60% of Americans live in a State where cannabis is legal either medically or recreationally, and a recent poll revealed that about 8 in 10 adults support the legalization of marijuana for medical treatment (82% 2016), while half of Americans support legalizing marijuana for recreational use, with a majority indicating that enforcing prohibition isn’t worth the cost.
Veritas continues to actively engage with its advisors at the State and Federal levels to provide assistance to government officials on the ongoing policy making initiatives related to medical cannabis in the United States.
About Veritas Pharma Inc.
Veritas Pharma Inc. is an emerging pharmaceutical and IP development company, who, through its 80% owned subsidiary Cannevert Therapeutics Ltd. ("CTL"), is advancing the science behind medical cannabis. It is the Company’s aim, through its investment in CTL, to develop the most effective cannabis strains (cultivars) specific to pain, nausea, epilepsy and PTSD, solving the critical need for clinical data to support medical marijuana claims. CTL’s unique value proposition uses a low-cost research and development model to help drive shareholder value, and speed-to-market. Veritas investment in CTL is led by strong management team, bringing together veteran academic pharmacologists, anesthetists & chemists. The Company's commercial mission is to patent protect IP (cultivars & strains) and sell or license to cancer clinics, insurance industry and pharma, targeting multi-billion dollar global markets.
Veritas Pharma Inc. is a publicly traded company which trades in three countries including Canada, on the Canadian Stock Exchange under the ticker VRT; in the United States, on the OTC under the ticker VRTHF; and in Germany, on the Frankfurt exchange under the ticker 2VP.
For more information, please visit our website: veritaspharmainc.com
On behalf of the Board of Directors
"Dr. Lui Franciosi"
Dr. Lui Franciosi
President and Chief Executive Officer
Further information about the Company is available on our website at www.veritaspharmainc.com or under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the CSE website at www.thecse.com.
Investor and Public Relations Contact
Veritas Pharma Inc.
Sam Eskandari
Telephone: +1.416.918.6785
Email: ir@veritaspharmainc.com
Website: www.veritaspharmainc.com
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.