Research lacking on medical pot, say doctors’ groups

There is little to no research to support the supposed benefits of medical cannabis, and what evidence exists suggests that using marijuana as medicine may do more harm than good, family doctors’ associations across Canada are telling their members.

A trio of advisories prepared by the Alberta College of Family Physicians has been distributed to more than 32,000 clinicians, summarizing the scientific literature, or lack thereof, around medicinal marijuana.

“One thing that was quite consistent was adverse events,” said Dr. Mike Allan, a professor of family medicine at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. “And the benefits, even if they’re real, are much smaller than what people might anticipate.”

Allan co-ordinates the college’s biweekly updates, Tools for Practice, which focus on topical issues and are circulated through professional chapters in every province except Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

The three most recent updates were inspired by physicians wanting to know more about the research behind medical cannabis. Family doctors are facing increasing pressure from patients asking about medicinal pot and the college wants to ensure its members have the information they need to make informed decisions around treatment, Allan said.

“I think this gives (doctors) some comfort, saying, ‘Look, here’s the evidence. It’s actually missing in a lot of places, so I can’t give it for conditions X, Y and Z,’” Allan said. He described medical pot as a high-risk product that should only be used in rare circum- stances when other, safer treatment options have been exhausted.

Health Canada data show the number of clients registered with licensed medical marijuana producers jumped to more than 200,000 as of June 2017, which is about 2.7 times greater than the 75,166 people registered at the same time last year.

Medical colleges have released some general guidelines for primary-care providers about prescribing marijuana. Documents released by the colleges of physicians and surgeons in both British Columbia and Alberta cite the absence of reliable evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of cannabis as medication.

The Alberta college is helping put together more comprehensive provincial guidelines for prescribing medical cannabis, which it expects to release by March, Allan said.