“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has, for the first time, approved a drug that uses 3D printing technology, paving the way for potential customization of drugs to suit patients’ needs. The drug, made by privately held Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Co, was approved for oral use as a prescription adjunctive therapy in the treatment of epilepsy, the company said on Monday.
“Spritam uses Aprecia’s “ZipDose” technology, a delivery system that creates premeasured doses which disintegrate in the mouth with a sip of liquid. 3D printing could help companies make products “to the specifications of an individual patient rather than (take a) one-size-fits-all kind of approach,” Wedbush Securities analyst Tao Levy said. 3D printers help make products by layering material until a three-dimensional object is created.
However, as expected, the increasingly wide use of 3D printing technology is bound to have certain controversies attached to it. For instance, recently a guide for printing marijuana with a 3D printer was leaked on the Internet, causing the World Wide Web to crash for a couple of minutes due to billions of attempted downloads worldwide.
The so-called “Guide to DIY 3D-Printed Pot” was leaked on an Internet forum dedicated to efforts to legalize cannabis in the United States, named “It’s Here, It’s a Drug, You Can’t Sweep It Under the Rug! Legalize Cannabis In The U.S.!” One of the administrators of the forum, who requested anonymity but allowed his chat name “SmokinBoy81” to be published, said that “it was only a matter of time when something like this would happen.”
“It was the same with the 3D-printed gun incident some time ago,” the administrator warned. “If you give people the tools and technology, but forbid something they enjoy in, sooner or later they are going to put 2 and 2 together and you’re going to regret you tried to play judge, jury and executioner with them. This is a typical example of technology trumping legislation, and considering that I’m pro-legalization, I’m happy someone finally figured out a way.”
The administrator also provided additional information about the forum user who uploaded the guide. “I can’t tell you much about him, other than that he’s a male, and that his forum chat name is ‘UpYoursATF77.’ Although I’m sure it won’t take the authorities, and especially the ATF, long to get to him, I’m glad he had the cojones to do this,” the administrator said with a slight smile on his face. “Somehow I know that America is a new Amsterdam. All that’s left are legalized hookers.”
