Synthetic Marijuana Returns to Market with FDA Approval

Color me confused.

Seventeen years after it was withdrawn from U.S. markets, a synthetic version of the active ingredient in marijuana is going back on sale as a prescription treatment for the vomiting and nausea that often accompanies chemotherapy, its manufacturer said Tuesday.

and

Synthetic THC acts on the brain like the THC in smoked marijuana, but eliminates having to inhale the otherwise harmful smoke contained in the illegal drug, Valeant said.

and

The FDA last month said it does not support the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Does this make any sense? If marijuana has no medical purposes, then how is it that an artificial form of its active ingredient is ok?

Is this about medicine or politics? Or maybe it's about pharmaceutical company profits?

I'm catching the foul smell of hypocrisy over here.