Pharmacy Daily | Cannabis no help for mental health

THE largest-ever review of the safety and efficacy of medicinal cannabis across a range of mental health conditions has found no evidence it is effective in treating anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Conducted by researchers from the University of Sydney, the study comes as more than 700,000 Australians have reported using medicinal cannabis, with over one million prescription approvals and a tripling of sales of cannabinoid medications in Australia over the past four years.

There was some evidence - albeit low quality - to suggest that medicinal cannabis could potentially be beneficial for some conditions, such as the treatment of cannabis use disorder (cannabis dependency), autism, insomnia, and tics or Tourette's syndrome.

But the authors said that in the absence of robust medical or counselling support, the use of medicinal cannabis in these cases is rarely justified.

The study's lead author, Dr Jack Wilson at the Matilda Centre, said the results call into question the approval of medicinal cannabis for the treatment of depression, anxiety and PTSD.

"Though our paper didn't specifically look at this, the routine use of medicinal cannabis could be doing more harm than good by worsening mental health outcomes, for example a greater risk of psychotic symptoms and developing cannabis use disorder, and delaying the use of more effective treatments," he said.

Responding to concerns from peak bodies including the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Australian Medical Association around the prescribing and dispensing of medicinal cannabis, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) initiated a review of the regulatory oversight of medicinal cannabis (PD 24 Feb).

Dr Wilson suggested the study "may support the TGA and clinicians to make evidence-based decisions, helping to ensure patients receive effective treatments while minimising harm from ineffective or unsafe cannabis products" - read the paper HERE. KB