While the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) has just given the green light to experimentation with therapeutic cannabis in France, a study from the University of Michigan (United States) reveals that 44% of its consumers would stop take certain prescription drugs. With the growing number of US states legalizing this substance, “More and more people are likely to use medical marijuana in addition to or as a substitute for drugs”, say the researchers.
Increased confidence in cannabis
Scientists surveyed 450 adult cannabis users in the state of Michigan, where its medical use has been legal since 2008. In the end, 78% of them said they had used marijuana to treat a health problem. , especially for chronic pain, back problems, depression or headaches. In this context, 42% stopped taking certain drugs, while 38% reduced their use.
These users have in fact admitted to have more confidence in medical cannabis than in traditional healthcare, especially in terms of efficacy, side effects, availability and cost. However, 30% of those questioned did not inform their doctors about their use of marijuana in the context of their health. “Given the growing use of medical cannabis and its widespread recreational use despite criminalization, the current public health framework focused primarily on abstinence from cannabis appears obsolete”, thus alert the authors of the study.
The results were published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs January 8, 2019.
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