Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26844050›Full record

ArticlePreventive medicine reports2015

Medical marijuana programs - Why might they matter for public health and why should we better understand their impacts?

Benedikt Fischer, Yoko Murphy, Paul Kurdyak, Elliot Goldner, Jürgen Rehm

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Preventive medicine reports, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Observational
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Observational
  9. Article
  10. The Protective Behavioral Strategies for Marijuana Scale: Further examination using item response theory.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2017
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Benedikt FischerCentre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addictions (CARMHA), Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 5K3, Canada; Social & Epidemiological Research, Centre for Addiction & Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario M5S 1S1, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada.
Yoko MurphyCentre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addictions (CARMHA), Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 5K3, Canada; Social & Epidemiological Research, Centre for Addiction & Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario M5S 1S1, Canada.
Paul KurdyakDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada; Mental Health & Addiction Research Program, Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5, Canada.
Elliot GoldnerCentre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addictions (CARMHA), Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 5K3, Canada.
Jürgen RehmSocial & Epidemiological Research, Centre for Addiction & Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario M5S 1S1, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Ontario M5T 3M7, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveAlthough cannabis is an illegal drug, 'medical marijuana programs' (MMPs) have proliferated (e.g., in Canada and several US states), allowing for legal cannabis use for therapeutic purposes. While both health risks and potential therapeutic benefits for cannabis use have been documented, potential public health impacts of MMPs - also vis-à-vis other psychoactive substance use - remain under-explored.

methodsWe briefly reviewed the emerging evidence on MMP participants' health status, and specifically other psychoactive substance use behaviors and outcomes.

resultsWhile data are limited in amount and quality, MMP participants report improvements in overall health status, and specifically reductions in levels of risky alcohol, prescription drug and - to some extent - tobacco or other illicit drug use; at the same time, increases in cannabis use and risk/problem patterns may occur.

conclusionMMP participation may positively impact - for example, by way of possible 'substitution effects' from cannabis use - other psychoactive substance use and risk patterns at a scale relevant for public health, also influenced by the increasing population coverage of MMPs. Yet, net overall MMP-related population health effects need to be more rigorously and comprehensively assessed, including potential increases in cannabis use related risks and harms.

Indexed as

CannabisMedical marijuanaPopulation healthRisk factorsSubstance use

Identifiers

PMID26844050
PMCPMC4721313

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.