Abstract
Over the past 20 years there have been substantial changes to the cannabis policy landscape. To date, 28 states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for the treatment of medical conditions (NCSL, 2016). Eight of these states and the District of Columbia have also legalized cannabis for recreational use. These landmark changes in policy have markedly changed cannabis use patterns and perceived levels of risk. Based on a recent nationwide survey, 22.2 million Americans (12 years of age and older) reported using cannabis in the past 30 days and between 2002 and 2015 the percentage of past month cannabis users in this age range have increased steadily from 6.2 to 8.3 percent (CBHSQ, 2016).
Despite the extensive changes in policy at the state level and the rapid rise in the use of cannabis both for medical purposes and for recreational use, conclusive evidence regarding the short- and long-term health effects (harms and benefits) of cannabis use remains elusive. A lack of scientific research has resulted in a lack of information on the health implications of cannabis use, which is a significant public health concern for vulnerable populations such as adolescents and pregnant women. Unlike other substances, such as alcohol or tobacco, whose use may confer risk, no accepted standards exist to help guide individuals as they make choices regarding the issues of if, when, where, and how to use cannabis safely and, in regard to therapeutic uses, effectively.
Within this context, in March of 2016, the Health and Medicine Division (formerly the Institute of Medicine [IOM] 1 of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies) was asked to convene a committee of experts to conduct a comprehensive review of the literature regarding the health effects of using cannabis and/or its constituents that had appeared since the publication of the IOM 1999 report Marijuana and Medicine. The resulting Committee on the Health Effects of Marijuana consisted of 16 experts in the areas of marijuana, addiction, oncology, cardiology, neurodevelopment, respiratory disease, pediatric and adolescent health, immunology, toxicology, preclinical research, epidemiology, systematic review, and public health. The sponsors of this report include federal, state, philanthropic and nongovernmental organizations, including the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority; Arizona Department of Health Services; California Department of Public Health; CDC Foundation; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Mat-Su Health Foundation; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; National Institutes of Health/ National Cancer Institute; National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse; Oregon Health Authority; The Colorado Health Foundation; The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation; Truth Initiative; U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and Washington State Department of Health.
|