Qualifying Conditions Of Medical Cannabis License Holders In The United States

Abstract

The evidence for cannabis’s treatment efficacy across different conditions varies widely, and comprehensive data on the conditions for which people use cannabis is lacking. We analyzed state registry data to provide nationwide estimates characterizing the qualifying conditions for which patients are licensed to use cannabis medically. We also compared the prevalence of medical cannabis qualifying conditions to recent evidence from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report on cannabis’s efficacy in treating each condition. Twenty states and Washington DC had available registry data on patient number, and fourteen states had data on patient-reported qualifying conditions. Chronic pain is currently and historically the most common qualifying condition reported by medical cannabis patients (67.5% in 2016). 85.5% of patient-reported qualifying conditions had either substantial or conclusive evidence of therapeutic efficacy. As medical cannabis use continues to increase, creating a nationwide patient registry will facilitate better understanding of use trends and potential effectiveness.

Medical cannabis and insomnia in older adults with chronic pain: a cross-sectional study

“…Medical cannabis (MC) policies are changing rapidly in various jurisdictions allowing increasingly more patients legal access to use MC to ease medical symptoms from various conditions. One of the most common areas of medicine in which MC has been integrated is chronic pain 6. While there is relatively strong clinical evidence that MC is an efficacious pain reliever7 8 effect sizes are small 9 10.…”

Ensuring access to safe, effective, and affordable cannabis‐based medicines

“…The increased adult access for nonmedical use has not unfortunately improved patients' access to quality medical cannabis products. There has, for example, been a substantial drop in the number of patients enrolled in medical programmes in many US states after legalisation . Patients also report that after legalisation, it is harder to obtain the herbal cannabis products that they previously used because the retail cannabis market primarily caters to the daily recreational users who account for most of their sales…”

“…There has, for example, been a substantial drop in the number of patients enrolled in medical programmes in many US states after legalisation. [23][24][25] Patients also report that after legalisation, it is harder to obtain the herbal cannabis products that they previously used because the retail cannabis market primarily caters to the daily recreational users who account for most of their sales. 24,25 Nor has cannabis legalisation led to more funding for research into the effectiveness of medical cannabinoids.…”

Translational hurdles with cannabis medicines

“…registries is the prevalent use of cannabinoid medicines to treat chronic pain, 17,18,20 despite the limited RCT evidence for use in this indication. 24 Harmonisation of standard data collected is necessary to pool data from various registries internationally.…”