Marijuana eases some conditions
But study warns of dangers; lack of data
Marijuana appears to be an effective treatment for chronic pain, nausea and symptoms of multiple sclerosis, concludes a report from some of the nation’s top doctors and public health experts.
Commissioned by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the report says there’s “conclusive or substantial” research backing the effectiveness of cannabis for those three conditions. But it warns of dangers from marijuana use: an increased risk of car crashes, lower birth weight babies and problems with memory and attention. It found strong connections between heavy cannabis use and the development of schizophrenia and other psychoses.
A wide variety of state and federal government agencies helped pay for the study, which included medical doctors, mental health practitioners and addiction spe- cialists. The study’s authors said the increasing legalization of medical marijuana across the country makes this a “pivotal” moment in the national conversation. Legalization advocates hailed the report as long-awaited confirmation that marijuana can have medical benefits.
The report is full of cautions and caveats and repeatedly notes the lack of good data when compared with typical medicines.
Put another way: “Knowing is better than not knowing,” says Rizwan Parvez, a psychiatrist and medical director of the residential drug and mental health treatment center Newport Academy in Bethlehem, Conn.
Marijuana is classified by the federal government as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, considered to have “no currently accepted medical use” and a high risk of addiction. But 28 states and the District of Columbia permit some form of medical marijuana use.
Parvez says that although millions of people have used marijuana, anecdotal evidence isn’t good enough. He says there are strong parallels with alcohol: “Some people use it recreationally, and other people burn their lives to the ground with it.”