- Apr 14, 2003
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In the past several years we have been bombarded by news stories about the medical uses of marijuana or compounds derived from marijuana. We are hearing endless testimonials about the people it has helped, or who could be helped if regulations didn’t get in the way.
The following information deals with mental disorders, and not with purely physical ailments, but it does give a word of caution. The American Psychiatric Association issued a Position Statement in 2019 dealing with marijuana. It tells anyone thinking about using marijuana or anything derived from it as a treatment for a mental disorder to think again. That includes depression.
To summarize the following, there is no evidence that marijuana is beneficial for any mental disorder. If anything, the evidence is that using marijuana may be associated with the start of such disorders in many people. We are warned that the FDA has never approved anything intended for smoking as a medication. Changes in policy should be “evidence-based” and not driven by “ballot initiatives.”
Even compounds derived from marijuana which aren’t smoked have serious dosage and quality control problems. In other words, you don’t know exactly what you are getting or how much you need.
Quotes from the APA Position Statement
“There is no current scientific evidence that cannabis is in any way beneficial for the treatment of any psychiatric disorder. In contrast, current evidence supports, at minimum, a strong association of cannabis use with the onset of psychiatric disorders. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to harm, given the effects of cannabis on neurological development.”
“Policy and practice surrounding cannabis-derived substances should not be altered until sufficient clinical evidence supports such changes.”
“Medical treatment should be evidence-based and determined by professional standards of care; it should not be authorized by ballot initiatives.”
“No medication approved by the FDA is smoked.”
Even for non-smoked forms there is a dosage problem.
“Even non-smoked means of consumption, such as edible forms of cannabis, tinctures, and ointments have variable absorption, bio-availability, and a range of phyto-cannabinoids and other biologically active compounds which are not measured or controlled for in production.”
“The APA does not endorse cannabis as medicine.”
Link
file:///C:/Users/hp/AppData/Local/Temp/Position-Cannabis-as-Medicine.pdf
The following information deals with mental disorders, and not with purely physical ailments, but it does give a word of caution. The American Psychiatric Association issued a Position Statement in 2019 dealing with marijuana. It tells anyone thinking about using marijuana or anything derived from it as a treatment for a mental disorder to think again. That includes depression.
To summarize the following, there is no evidence that marijuana is beneficial for any mental disorder. If anything, the evidence is that using marijuana may be associated with the start of such disorders in many people. We are warned that the FDA has never approved anything intended for smoking as a medication. Changes in policy should be “evidence-based” and not driven by “ballot initiatives.”
Even compounds derived from marijuana which aren’t smoked have serious dosage and quality control problems. In other words, you don’t know exactly what you are getting or how much you need.
Quotes from the APA Position Statement
“There is no current scientific evidence that cannabis is in any way beneficial for the treatment of any psychiatric disorder. In contrast, current evidence supports, at minimum, a strong association of cannabis use with the onset of psychiatric disorders. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to harm, given the effects of cannabis on neurological development.”
“Policy and practice surrounding cannabis-derived substances should not be altered until sufficient clinical evidence supports such changes.”
“Medical treatment should be evidence-based and determined by professional standards of care; it should not be authorized by ballot initiatives.”
“No medication approved by the FDA is smoked.”
Even for non-smoked forms there is a dosage problem.
“Even non-smoked means of consumption, such as edible forms of cannabis, tinctures, and ointments have variable absorption, bio-availability, and a range of phyto-cannabinoids and other biologically active compounds which are not measured or controlled for in production.”
“The APA does not endorse cannabis as medicine.”
Link
file:///C:/Users/hp/AppData/Local/Temp/Position-Cannabis-as-Medicine.pdf
