Medically Recommended Cannabis Linked to Higher CUD Rates

TOPLINE:

Adults using medically recommended cannabis have a higher prevalence of cannabis use disorder (CUD) and greater frequency of use compared with those using cannabis solely for nonmedical purposes, new research suggests.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study of more than 72,668 adults aged 18-49 years, and used data from the 2021-2022 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.
• Participant classification was based on whether a healthcare professional recommended cannabis to them.
• Study outcomes included past-year cannabis use, frequency of use, and the prevalence and severity of CUD.

TAKEAWAY:

• Overall, 29.5% of participants reported past-year cannabis use; of these, 83.7% reported nonmedical-only use, 9.2% medical-only use, and 5.7% medical-nonmedical use. 34.8% of total participants had CUD.
• Men with medical-only cannabis use showed a higher adjusted prevalence of CUD at all severity levels compared to those who reported nonmedical-only use (all P
• Women aged 18-34 years with medical-only cannabis use also had higher prevalence of severe (7.4% vs 6%), moderate (11.6% vs 9.9%), and mild (19.8% vs 18.1%) CUD compared to those with nonmedical only use (all P
• Participants with medical-only use also reported more days of cannabis use than those with nonmedical-only use (all P

IN PRACTICE:

“These findings suggest that medically recommended cannabis is not associated with reduced addiction risk compared with nonmedical use,” the investigators wrote. “Clinicians should consider addiction risk before recommending medical cannabis and, if they do, should monitor for CUD emergence.”

SOURCE:

The study was led by Beth Han, MD, PhD, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. It was published online on January 22 in JAMA Psychiatry.

LIMITATIONS:

The study relied on self-reported data, which could be subjected to recall and social desirability bias. Additionally, the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for CUD were developed before widespread medical cannabis use, potentially leading to overestimation of the condition.

DISCLOSURES:

No funding source for this study was disclosed. One investigator reported having long-term stock holdings in General Electric Co, Pfizer Inc, and 3M companies outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.