Critics Challenge Study That Found Little Evidence to Support Use of Cannabis

Medical marijuana advocates are challenging the findings of a new study that found little clinical evidence to support the use of cannabis in treating chronic pain.

“The findings appear out of step with the real-world experience of millions of patients who have come to rely on cannabis for pain management,” said Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML.

The federally-funded systematic review – essentially a study of studies – was conducted by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), who analyzed over 3,000 cannabis studies. They could find only 25 studies that met their criteria for review. Only placebo controlled clinical trials or observational studies lasting at least four weeks were included. The rest were deemed to be poor quality or flawed in some way.

“In general, the limited amount of evidence surprised all of us,” said lead author Marian McDonagh, PharmD, professor of medical informatics and clinical epidemiology in the OHSU School of Medicine. “With so much buzz around cannabis-related products, and the easy availability of recreational and medical marijuana in many states, consumers and patients might assume there would be more evidence about the benefits and side effects.”

‘Biased Findings’

Most of the 25 cannabis studies that met OHSU’s criteria for review were considered biased in some way — 30% of the clinical trials were considered to have “high risk of bias” and half had “medium risk of bias.”  Most of the observational studies were also considered biased.

Despite the limited evidence, the OHSU research team came to some sweeping conclusions. Their study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found no evidence to support the use of cannabidiol (CBD) or cannabis leaves, buds and flowers in treating pain. Only synthetic cannabis products rich in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were found to provide short-term relief from neuropathic pain. [Read more at Pain News Network]

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