National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice; Committee on the Health Effects of Marijuana: An Evidence Review and Research Agenda.
Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2017 Jan 12.
STUDY HIGHLIGHTS – The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research.
Below are the conditions that demonstrated either substantial or limited evidence that cannabis is an effective treatment. The balance of the health areas mentioned in this stude were stated to be inconclusive due to incomplete or studies that showed no efficacy or that were in conclusive to cannabis benefits.
- In adults with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, oral cannabinoids are effective antiemetics.
- In adults with chronic pain, patients who were treated with cannabis or cannabinoids are more likely to experience a clinically significant reduction in pain symptoms.
- In adults with multiple sclerosis (MS)-related spasticity, short-term use of oral cannabinoids improves patient-reported spasticity symptoms.
- For these conditions the effects of cannabinoids are modest; for all other conditions evaluated there is inadequate information to assess their effects.
- CHRONIC PAIN
CONCLUSION
4-1 There is substantial evidence that cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain in adults. - SPASTICITY ASSOCIATED WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS OR SPINAL CORD INJURY
CONCLUSION:
4-7(a) There is substantial evidence that oral cannabinoids are an effective treatment for improving patient-reported multiple sclerosis spasticity symptoms, but limited evidence for an effect on clinician-measured spasticity.
4-7(b) There is insufficient evidence to support or refute the conclusion that cannabinoids are an effective treatment for spasticity in patients with paralysis due to spinal cord injury. - TOURETTE SYNDROME
CONCLUSION
4-8 There is limited evidence that THC capsules are an effective treatment for improving symptoms of Tourette syndrome. - TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY/INTRACRANIAL HEMORRHAGE
CONCLUSION
4-15 There is limited evidence of a statistical association between cannabinoids and better outcomes (i.e., mortality, disability) after a traumatic brain injury or intracranial hemorrhage. - ANXIETY
CONCLUSION
4-17 There is limited evidence that cannabidiol is an effective treatment for the improvement of anxiety symptoms, as assessed by a public speaking test, in individuals with social anxiety disorders. - SLEEP DISORDERS
CONCLUSION
4-19 There is moderate evidence that cannabinoids, primarily nabiximols, are an effective treatment to improve short-term sleep outcomes in individuals with sleep disturbance associated with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, and multiple sclerosis. - POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
CONCLUSION
4-20 There is limited evidence (a single, small fair-quality trial) that nabilone is effective for improving symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder.
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