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Cannabis, cannabinoids and health : A review of evidence on risks and medical benefits
Hoch, Eva Volkow, Nora D. Friemel, Chris Lorenzetti, Valentina Freeman, Tom P. Hall, Wayne
Hoch, Eva
Volkow, Nora D.
Friemel, Chris
Lorenzetti, Valentina
Freeman, Tom P.
Hall, Wayne
Abstract
The legalization of cannabis for medical and recreational purposes has progressed internationally. Cannabis and cannabinoids are advocated for a plethora of medical indications. An increasing number of medical and nonmedical users regularly consume large doses of delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component of cannabis. Aim: to summarize the evidence on (1) risks of recreational cannabis use and (2) effectiveness and safety of medicinal cannabis. Findings on recreational use: Cannabis is mostly used to experience its acute rewarding effects. Regular use of high THC products can produce addiction (cannabis use disorder or CUD). Acute consumption of high THC doses (including unintentionally) can cause time-limited mental, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular problems and motor vehicle accidents. Chronic patterns of cannabis use have been associated with multiple adverse outcomes that are of particular concern among adolescents and young adults, such as, disrupted learning, impaired cognitive performance, reduced educational attainment and an increased risk of CUD, psychosis/schizophrenia, mood and anxiety disorders and suicidal behaviors. There is debate about the extent to which cannabis use is a cause of these adverse outcomes. Physical health risks (e.g., respiratory and cardiovascular, prematurity and restricted fetal growth, hyperemesis syndrome among others) have also been linked with repeated consumption of cannabis with a high THC content. Findings on medical cannabis use: Herbal cannabis, medicines from extracted or synthetized cannabinoids—often used as adjuvants to standard medicines—may produce small to modest benefits. This is primarily the case in treating chronic pain, muscle spasticity, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and refractory epilepsy (in the case of cannabidiol, CBD). The evidence is inconclusive on their value in treating mental disorders and other medical conditions. Safety: Cannabis-based medicine is generally well tolerated. There is a risk of mild to moderate adverse effects and CUD.
Keywords
cannabis, adverse effects, cannabinoids, therapeutic use, humans, medical marijuana, marijuana abuse, public health
Date
2025
Type
Journal article
Journal
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Book
Volume
275
Issue
Page Range
281-292
Article Number
ACU Department
National School of Behavioural and Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Gold open access
License
CC BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International)
File Access
Open
Notes
© The Author(s) 2024
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.