Chronic pain patients who use herbal cannabis daily for one-year
report reduced discomfort and increased quality of life compared to
controls, and do not experience an increased risk of serious side
effects, according to clinical data published online ahead of print in the Journal of Pain.
Researchers
at McGill University in Montreal assessed the long-term health of 216
medicinal cannabis users with chronic non-cancer pain who consumed a
daily standardized dose (12.5 percent THC) of herbal cannabis compared
to 215 controls (chronic pain suffers who did not use cannabis).
Subjects in study were approved by Health Canada to legally use
medicinal cannabis and consumed, on average, 2.5 grams of herb per day,
typically via inhalation or vaporization.
Investigators reported
that daily cannabis consumers possessed no greater risk than non-users
to experience “serious adverse events.” Specifically, researchers
identified no significant adverse changes in consumers’ cognitive
skills, pulmonary function, or blood work following one-year of daily
cannabis consumption.
Medical cannabis consumers did report elevated
risk of experiencing “non-serious adverse events” (e.g., cough,
dizziness, paranoia) compared to controls; however, authors classified
these to be “mild to moderate.”
Pain patients who used cannabis
reported a reduced sense of pain compared to controls, as well as
reduced anxiety, depression, and fatigue.
“Quality-controlled
herbal cannabis, when used by cannabis-experienced patients as part of a
monitored treatment program over one year, appears to have a reasonable
safety profile,” authors concluded.
The study is one of the first to ever assess the long-term safety and efficacy of medicinal cannabis. A prior health review of patients receiving medical cannabis monthly from the US federal government as part of the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program similarly reported that cannabis possesses therapeutic efficacy and an acceptable side-effect profile.
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