Medical Marijuana Improves Quality Of Life, Science Says

This article was originally published on The Fresh Toast and appears here with permission.

All we want is to live happy, productive, healthy lives right?  Who would have guessed cannabis could play a key role. According to observational data published in the JAMA Network Open, patients suffering from pain, cancer, anxiety, and insomnia report significant, sustained improvements in their health-related quality of life following the use of medical marijuana.

Consistent with numerous other studies, authors reported patients using medical cannabis reported improvements in health-related quality of life, which were mostly sustained over time. Adverse events were rarely serious.

The study was led by Thomas R. Arkell, of the Center for Human Psychopharmacology at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn, Australia. The research could provide significant life changes for the millions who have chronic illness.

“This study suggests a favorable association between medical cannabis treatment and quality of life among patients with a diverse range of conditions,” the authors said in the study. “However, clinical evidence for cannabinoid efficacy remains limited, and further high-quality trials are required.

The did caution the relatively incidence of adverse events demonstrates caution with THC prescribing and careful identification of patients with contraindications.

Observational trial data from chronically ill United Kingdom patients  also reported that the use of medical marijuana is well tolerated and improves subjects’ health-related quality of life.

With the passing of the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act (H.R.8454) in 2022, there has become a change in how medical marijuana is not only funded but what is funds.

According to an analysis from Science magazine cannabis research funding in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom spent $1.56 billion between 2000 and 2018. An estimated half of the money was spent on understanding the potential harms of the recreational drug.

Just over $1 billion came from the biggest funder, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which doled out more money for research on cannabis misuse and its negative effects than for studies of cannabis and cannabis-derived chemicals as a therapeutic drug.

If you are effected by one of the things the study suggests can help, you should have a conversation with your physician.