How safe are medical cannabinoids?
Wang and colleagues performed a systematic review of safety studies of medical cannabinoids published over the past 40 years and found that short-term use appeared to increase the risk of non-serious adverse events. Of all non-serious adverse events, dizziness was the most common (15.5%). "We found that the rate of non-serious adverse events was 1.86 times higher among medical cannabinoid users than among controls," state the authors. "However, we did not find a higher incidence rate of serious adverse events associated with medical cannabinoid use." The authors note that 99% of the serious adverse events from randomized controlled trials were reported in only 2 trials, a fact the authors say suggests that more studies are required to further characterize safety issues.
In a related commentary, Dr. Louisa Degenhardt, Professor of Epidemiology, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (l.degenhardt@unsw.edu.au), states that, although the side effects of oral cannabis therapy appear to be minor in the short term, their longer-term effects, particularly in the setting of chronic illness, have yet to be studied.
Source: Canadian Medical Association Journal
Articles on the same topic
- Medicines derived from cannabis: a review of adverse eventsMon, 16 Jun 2008, 21:22:11 UTC
Other sources
- Medicines Derived From Cannabis Show Some Non-serious Adverse Eventsfrom Science DailyTue, 17 Jun 2008, 5:35:26 UTC
- Medicines derived from cannabis: a review of adverse eventsfrom PhysorgMon, 16 Jun 2008, 21:21:30 UTC