I'd be happy to. As you say, Marinol, Cesamet, and Sativex are the commonly prescribed alternatives to raw cannabis. Marinol and Cesamet are single agents. One of them is an actual THC molecule, and the other one is a synthetic THC mimic. All of the research that's been conducted looking at single agent mimics have found them to be less effective in terms of treatment modalities than whole-plant cannabis. What scientists call the synergistic effect seems to be one of the important factors in the efficacy of whole-plant cannabis.
Now, Sativex is an oral mucosal spray that is a whole plant cannabis product. I think that it is much more promising than Marinol and Cesamet, but I still think that for most patients it's going to be inaccessible because of cost issues—it's a very expensive product. It's the equivalent of having a single strain of cannabis available to all Canadians. What we've found in research is that not all strains are effective in all conditions under all circumstances, so having a variety of cannabis strains, which is what's happening under the new MMPR, has made a big difference for cannabis patients.