Informed consent: A policy prescription for communicating benefit and risk in state medical marijuana programs.

Title

Informed consent: A policy prescription for communicating benefit and risk in state medical marijuana programs.

Creator

Messamore E; Dugan SE

Publisher

Psychiatric Services

Date

2020
2020-06

Description

In creating medical marijuana laws, state governments signal to the public that marijuana can safely and effectively treat a wide range of diseases. In many cases, these state approvals overestimate the benefits of marijuana and understate the risks. After a comprehensive review of the medical literature, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine identified six medical benefits from marijuana that were supported with at least a moderate level of medical evidence and 14 potential health hazards. In contrast, the average state medical marijuana program lists 18 medical benefits, and 24 state medical marijuana program websites say nothing about possible risks. Medication approval processes through the federal government traditionally require independent analysis of data from well-designed clinical trials that measure the effectiveness and capture the risks of adverse effects from specific doses of the medicine. These considerations are generally missing from state approvals of medical marijuana. The power to declare something to be a legitimate medicine comes with the responsibility to provide information that people need to use the medicine wisely. The authors recommend that states that declare marijuana to be a medicine should inform the public about the quality of medical evidence behind each approved use and publicize all scientifically credible risks.

Subject

Information Dissemination; Policy Making; Medical Marijuana; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; Cannabis; Marijuana Use

Rights

Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

Format

journalArticle

Search for Full-text

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Pages

appips202000140

NEOMED College

NEOMED College of Medicine
NEOMED College of Pharmacy

NEOMED Department

Department of Psychiatry
Department of Pharmacy Practice

Update Year & Number

July 2020 List

Citation

Messamore E; Dugan SE, “Informed consent: A policy prescription for communicating benefit and risk in state medical marijuana programs.,” NEOMED Bibliography Database, accessed March 29, 2024, https://neomed.omeka.net/items/show/11155.