SynthesisEuropean archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience2019
How effective and safe is medical cannabis as a treatment of mental disorders? A systematic review.
Synthesis in European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 53 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 126 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of cannabidiol alone or in combination with Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol for the management of substance use disorders: An umbrella review of the evidence.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of cannabinoids in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders among children and adolescents: a systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Medical cannabinoids: a pharmacology-based systematic review and meta-analysis for all relevant medical indications.BMC medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Medical Cannabis for the Treatment of Migraine in Adults: A Review of the Evidence.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Pooled it
- A Mapping Literature Review of Medical Cannabis Clinical Outcomes and Quality of Evidence in Approved Conditions in the USA from 2016 to 2019.Medical cannabis and cannabinoids · 2021Pooled it
- Treatment studies with cannabinoids in anorexia nervosa: a systematic review.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2021Pooled it
- Substance use disorder in forensic hospitals: A scoping review of practices and interventions.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Review
- Readiness to Use Medicinal Marijuana in the Practices of Polish Family Physicians.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- The prevalence of cannabis use pre-versus post-cannabis legalization in Canada by mental health status: findings from national repeat cross-sectional surveys.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Article
- Clinical Experience and Student Support for Medical Cannabis Use: A Secondary Analysis.Cannabis (Albuquerque, N.M.) · 2026Article
- Randomised Controlled Trial Evidence on Medicinal Cannabis for Treatment of Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: A Scoping Review.Clinical drug investigation · 2026Article
- Ritual to relief: ethical frontiers in repurposing psychoactive substances.CNS spectrums · 2025Review
- Medicinal use of non-prescribed cannabis: a cross-sectional survey on patterns of use, motives for use, and treatment access in the Netherlands.Journal of cannabis research · 2025Article
- Evidence synthesis of medical cannabis research: current challenges and opportunities.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025Review
- Cannabis, cannabinoids and health: a review of evidence on risks and medical benefits.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025Review
- Cannabis Consumption Among Adults Aged 55-65 in Canada, 2018-2021.Journal of drug issues · 2025Article
- The Role of Medicinal Cannabis as an Emerging Therapy for Opioid Use Disorder.Pain and therapy · 2024Review
- Les données probantes et les recommandations sur le cannabis à des fins médicales chez les enfants.Paediatrics & child health · 2024Review
- Medical cannabis for children: Evidence and recommendations.Paediatrics & child health · 2024Review
- Severe enduring anorexia nervosa (SE-AN) treatment options and their effectiveness: a review of literature.Journal of eating disorders · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
We conducted a review of systematic reviews (SRs) and randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) to analyze efficacy and safety of cannabis-based medication in patients with mental disorders. Five data bases were systematically searched (2006-August 2018); 4 SRs (of 11 RCTs) and 14 RCTs (1629 participants) were included. Diagnoses were: dementia, cannabis and opioid dependence, psychoses/schizophrenia, general social anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, anorexia nervosa, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Tourette`s disorder. Outcome variables were too heterogeneous to conduct a meta-analysis. A narrative synthesis method was applied. The study quality was assessed using the risk-of-bias tool and SIGN-checklists. THC- and CBD-based medicines, given as adjunct to pharmaco- and psychotherapy, were associated with improvements of several symptoms of mental disorders, but not with remission. Side effects occurred, but severe adverse effects were mentioned in single cases only. In order to provide reliable treatment recommendations, more and larger RCTs with follow-up assessments, consistent outcome measures and active comparisons are needed.
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Registered trials
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.