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Long-term and serious harms of medical cannabis and cannabinoids for chronic pain

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

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Long-term and serious harms of medical cannabis and cannabinoids for chronic pain

Use of cannabis for chronic pain:

  • delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
    • THC binds to cannabinoid receptors types 1 and 2, is an analogue to the endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide and has shown psychoactive, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antipruritic, antispasmodic and muscle-relaxant activities.
  • cannabidiol (CBD)
    • CBD directly interacts with various ion channels to produce analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant and anxiolytic activities, without the psychoactive effects of THC

In an analysis of data involving 12143 adult patients the authors conclude that:

  • 26% (95%CI: 13.2 to 41.2%) of patients experience adverse drug reactions (ADR) of which over half are psychiatric (13.5% -2.6% to 30.6%) and about 1 in 20 patients experience serious ADRs (1)
  • ".. is very low certainty evidence that adverse events are common among people living with chronic pain who use medical cannabis or cannabinoids, but that few patients experience serious adverse events.."

Reference:

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