Around the world there is a huge patient demand for access to medical cannabis and it’s been claimed that it can help with a dizzying array of medical conditions from chronic pain to cancer.
To date, cannabis has been legalised for medical use in more than 10 European countries, in Australia, Canada and in around 30 American states. In 2018 medical cannabis products that met safety and quality standards were legalised in the UK for patients with “exceptional clinical need” but this decision remains controversial, with many arguing that access doesn’t go far enough.
So why is cannabis so controversial? And what do we know about the potential benefits and risks?
To date, much of the evidence suggesting cannabis could be an effective a medical treatment is anecdotal. Only in a few conditions have enough clinical trials been done to prove scientifically that the drug is safe and effective. A recent UK government review found conclusive evidence that medical cannabis can have a therapeutic effect in a few specific conditions: chronic pain, anxiety, nausea and vomiting caused as side effects of cancer therapies, and muscle spasticity symptoms in MS.
This doesn’t mean that cannabis isn’t effective in the treatment of other conditions, it just means we don’t yet have enough evidence to know IF it works, HOW it works, and crucially, whether it’s safe.
To fill these gaps in our knowledge, a growing number of clinical trials are now taking place all over the world, looking at conditions such as childhood epilepsy, PTSD, and autism.
While we wait for the results from more clinical trials, many patients around the world are accessing unregulated cannabis products – something that some experts are concerned about.
Gabriel Weston met Dr Marcel Bonn-Miller who is running a clinical trial in the United States looking at cannabis and PTSD. He warned that while research so far suggests that CBD does not have any worrying side effects, THC can affect memory, concentration and reaction times and could even cause psychosis. There is also a risk that users could develop a dependency.
It’s clear that the demand for medical cannabis isn’t going to go away, so what we need most of all in order to advance its use are more clinical trials. We need to find out exactly how it works and where its use is most appropriate, and perhaps the best place to start is with the conditions where there is the greatest demand from patients.
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