Medically recommended vs nonmedical cannabis use among US adults

Medically recommended vs nonmedical cannabis use among US adults
JAMA Psychiatry; Beth Han, MD, PhD, MPH; Wilson M. Compton, MD, MPE; Emily B. Einstein, PhD; Nora D. Volkow, MD; 1/25
With increases in cannabis use for medical purposes and its perceived benefits, patients and clinicians need to be aware of its potential risks. Results showed that adults aged 18 to 49 years reporting medical-only or medical-nonmedical cannabis use vs nonmedical-only use had higher prevalence of CUD [cannabis use disorder] at all severity levels and reported more frequent cannabis use. These findings suggest that medically recommended cannabis is not associated with reduced addiction risk compared with nonmedical use. Clinicians should consider addiction risk before recommending medical cannabis and, if they do, should monitor for CUD emergence.