Oral cannabis consistently improves health outcomes over two years

This study followed 3,961 patients for two years to determine the effects of regular, consistent doses of oral cannabis medicines. It was published in the journal PLOS One in November 2022.

All participants had multiple conditions with chronic pain (72%) the top diagnosed condition. Patients were taking an average of six other medications, which did not change over the study period.

The participants had never used cannabis before the study; their average age was 56 and 51% were female. They were tracked by a network of specialized clinics in Australia.

The patients were monitored for the effects of oral cannabis medication on clinical global impression, pain interference and severity, mental health (depression, anxiety, stress), insomnia, and general health status.

The mean total daily dose observed was about 88mg (THC + CBD) after 6 months. After 24 months, the average dose was about 80mg total consisting of roughly 60mg CBD and 20mg THC.

The authors concuded:

Oral MC [medical cannabis] was demonstrated to be safe and well-tolerated for a sustained period in a large complex cohort of cannabis-naïve, multimorbid patients with polypharmacy.

There was significant improvement (p<0.001) across all measured clinical outcomes over two years. 

The full text paper is here at PLOS.org