Groundbreaking articles in current issues of Journal of Opioid Management, for the first time explore, in depth, the emergence of cannabinoid medicine, its challenges for health care providers and its potential benefits for patients.
In these important articles, University of Washington authors, Sunil Aggarwal, PhD who is a member of the prestigious Medical Scientist Training Program and who conducted the article's research and Gregory T. Carter, MD, nationally recognized expert in the field of pain management, lead their team in taking a fresh look at all aspects of cannabinoid medicines, including the cannabinoid botanical marijuana, from the historical perspective and clinical evidence base for its use to the legal ramifications. In the second article, they offer a chart review examination of the treatment with medical cannabis of 139 chronic pain patients in the state of Washington.
As the authors point out, there is a near complete absence of education about cannabinoid medicine at any level of medical training despite the fact the Institute of Medicine concluded, after reviewing relevant scientific literature including dozens of works documenting marijuana's therapeutic value, that nausea, appetite loss, pain, and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting and all can be mitigated by the drug safely and with minimal toxicity. The research also shows that cannabinoid medicines have particular application for patients intolerant or refractory of opioid therapies for pain management.
The authors conclude that while cannabis is neither a miracle drug nor the answer to everyone's ills, the evidence suggests that physicians and medical students should make an extra effort to educate themselves in the art and science of cannabinoid medicine.