It appears as if the “Drug” companies are looking to help you ease the pain faster than you can by popping pills.

To do so, they must have talked to Ty Ty ‘nem, because they are offering their pain killers in a smokable form.

All self-respecting painkillers these days offer “fast-acting relief,” a promise we accept to mean anywhere from 15 minutes to more than an hour.

For Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is developing drugs for migraine, pain, panic and agitation, “fast” has to mean “within seconds.”

The Palo Alto, California-based company is developing drugs that can be “smoked,” and, like nicotine in cigarettes, pass through the lungs and into the bloodstream almost instantly.

Investors like the idea.

(Ed.: I bet they do, weed and other smokable substances have been top sellers for years.)

Alexza was formed by biotechnology entrepreneur Alejandro Zaffaroni, who also founded nicotine-patch developer Alza. His latest venture is not the only company that is developing inhaled therapies: Nektar Therapeutics and Alkermes Inc. develop powdered insulin.

But Alexza’s idea of heating up a drug to create a vapor, or smoke, is unique.

Come on, they can’t be serious. That’s unique! Pleeeaasee and why does the name Alexandro sound suspiciously Columbian.)

I guess the company’s jingle will be “Get ‘Em High” by Kanye West!

Reuters: “Smokable” Pain Drugs Promise Faster Action