If you’re anything like me, you may know some people that don’t buy into the idea that cannabis is a legitimate medicine. The best response? Show them the research.

But with so many studies, it can be hard to know where to point them. In this article, we take a quick look at one of the most significant, well respected and comprehensive studies to date. So what study is this? And what were the results? Lets take a look….

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a massive report in 2017 that gives one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date looks at what we know about cannabis. The report titled “The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research”  was completed by a committee of experts and researchers from the top universities around the country.

The committee considered over 10,000 studies for it analysis, and was able to draw nearly 100 conclusions about cannabis.

What makes this report so significant is that it’s one of the first time’s that such a comprehensive study has been done into cannabis. There are thousands of medical studies available, but many of them have conflicting information, were biased, or had other serious flaws.

This report was able to look through the medical research that is available and find the highest quality studies to base findings from.

So What Were The Findings?

The report found that there was conclusive evidence for cannabis effectively treating the following:

• Adult chronic pain,  
• Multiple sclerosis spasticity symptoms,
• Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting,
• Treatment of intractable seizures in Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes (CBD)

Perhaps the most notable of these is chronic pain. The CDC estimates that over 50 million Americans suffer from chronic pain and use pain killers or harsh prescription opioids. The opioid epidemic every year claims over 40,000 American lives.

Cannabis has been proven to help patients get off opioids, and even help heal the damage that opioids cause.

The report also found moderate evidence for a variety of other conditions. This simply means that more quality studies are needed. The report makes the recommendation that the federal government needs to remove the schedule 1 classification and red tape so that more quality research can take place.

Other Important Findings From The Report

The report also found that cannabis increased the risk of a car wreck’s. Precautions need to be taken when using cannabis, just like any other medication.

Also, evidence showed that children were more likely to accidentally consume cannabis in states that cannabis is legalized. The obvious reason for this is products are packaged like candies, and children can mistakenly consume them. It’s very important that parents carefully store cannabis away from the reach/access from children.

Another very interesting finding from the report was smoking cannabis was not connected to an increased risk of cancer often associated with tobacco use – such as lung and head and neck cancers. However, there is evidence that heavy cannabis smoking could lead to chronic bronchitis.

In conslusion, this report provides validation to the patients, doctors and researchers who have long understood the benefits of medical cannabis. As more people become aware of the benefits of medical cannabis, perhaps the stigma behind it will fade and more doctors will feel comfortable making recommendations to patients who could benefit.