A Risk-based Approach to Cannabis was written by Hari Guliani, the Head of Columbia Care International and is our fifth addition to the Decalogue paper and abstract series
A Risk-based Approach to Cannabis | Abstract
In spite of legalisation, many patients still depend on the black market to access their medication. When tested, black market products often contain highly undesirable contaminants including controlled narcotics. NICE have asked for evidence of efficacy before considering cost coverage in the NHS. However, given the real risk of harm a more proportionate approach would be to empower healthcare professionals to assess risk in individual patients and, absent intolerable risk, allow patients to purchase these products privately from a pharmacy. This path has been trodden before and now it is time for HCPs and industry to come together to better manage patient risk relating to medicinal cannabis.
If doctors are allowed to assess the risk of prescribing opioids, they should be allowed to do the same with cannabis medications. Although there were 2,263 drug poisoning deaths registered in 2020 involving opiates (such as heroin and morphine), there were no deaths registered involving cannabis. Anti-cannabis groups often cite mental health as a major concern with cannabis but they cannot support the claim of significant harm with any hospitalisation data. Anti-cannabis groups use data from rehab clinics, despite the fact that rehab clinics are unregulated and anyone can call themselves an 'addiction specialist'. Despite all the hand-wringing, medical cannabis has not turned out to be the horrible hairy monster everyone predicted. In the US, every state that allows medical cannabis use has seen a significant drop in opioid prescriptions (Medicare statistics). To date, no country that allows medical cannabis has experienced increases in crime, nor have their been increases in cannabis addiction or mental heath admissions.
If doctors are allowed to assess the risk of prescribing opioids, they should be allowed to do the same with cannabis medications. Although there were 2,263 drug poisoning deaths registered in 2020 involving opiates (such as heroin and morphine), there were no deaths registered involving cannabis. Anti-cannabis groups often cite mental health as a major concern with cannabis but they cannot support the claim of significant harm with any hospitalisation data. Anti-cannabis groups use data from rehab clinics, despite the fact that rehab clinics are unregulated and anyone can call themselves an 'addiction specialist'. Despite all the hand-wringing, medical cannabis has not turned out to be the horrible hairy monster everyone predicted. In the US, every state that allows medical cannabis use has seen a significant drop in opioid prescriptions (Medicare statistics). To date, no country that allows medical cannabis has experienced increases in crime, nor have their been increases in cannabis addiction or mental heath admissions.