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Experts explore how to make cannabis safer

As cannabis use increases recreationally and medically, research is needed to better understand the harms associated with cannabis and how its use can be made safer, according to researchers.

“The cannabis landscape is rapidly changing,” Amir Englund, PhD, of King’s College London, and colleagues wrote. “Following the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961, possession, distribution, and use of cannabis were criminalized and cannabis-related arrests increased substantially in Europe and North America, particularly among young and ethnic-minority populations. In the decades following the convention, there has been an overall trend towards greater cannabis use in most parts of the world.”

To better understand and reduce risks associated with cannabis use, researchers reviewed findings from studies assessing various types of cannabis.

Available research indicated that cannabidiol protects against harmful effects of -9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC); however, the dose of cannabidiol required to offset negative effects of THC is unknown. Experimental studies have yet to establish the appropriate dose, according to researchers.

To reduce cannabis-related harms, the researchers recommended:

• decreasing co-use of tobacco and cannabis, potentially by using other routes of administration instead, such as smoke-free vaporizers;
• increasing understanding of harms associated with cannabis varieties with different THC potencies; and
• conducting experimental studies assessing various cannabidiol to THC ratios administered in the same fashion and cognitive performance, psychopathology and addiction risk.

“With the rapidly changing political climate around cannabis, the demand to effectively reduce cannabis-related harms has never been greater, and more research (both experimental and observational) is urgently needed to inform policy decisions,” the researchers wrote. “A strategy based on increasing the content of cannabidiol in cannabis might be especially promising because cannabidiol can offset several harms associated with cannabis without compromising its rewarding effects.” – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.