Marijuana Is Associated With ‘Significant’ And ‘Sustained’ Health Improvements, American Medical Association Study Finds

The use of medical marijuana is associated with “significant improvements” in quality of life for people with conditions like chronic pain and insomnia—and those effects are “largely sustained” over time—according to a new study published by the American Medical Association (AMA).

Researchers carried out a retrospective case series analysis that involved 3,148 people in Australia who were prescribed medical cannabis for the treatment of certain eligible conditions.

Patients were asked to rate their wellness in eight categories on a scale of 0-100 at different stages of treatment. Those categories were general health, bodily pain, physical functioning, physical role limitations, mental health, emotional limitations, social functioning, and vitality.

Patients completed the survey once every 45 days. For 15 follow-ups, the study found that participants who were consuming cannabis reported average improvements of 6.6-18.31 points on that 100-point scale, depending on the category.

“These findings suggest that medical cannabis treatment may be associated with improvements in health-related quality of life among patients with a range of health conditions,” the Swinburne University of Technology, University of Western Australia, and Austin Hospital researchers wrote.

The doses, methods of consumption, and cannabinoid profiles of marijuana products that patients used varied significantly. Even so, the “estimated treatment effects were very similar.”

“This study suggests a favorable association between medical cannabis treatment and quality of life among patients with a diverse range of conditions,” it concludes. “However, clinical evidence for cannabinoid efficacy remains limited, and further high-quality trials are required.”

This is just the latest in a long list of studies supporting the therapeutic potential of marijuana as more states and countries move to reform their cannabis laws.