Article content continued

With an average age of 47 years, 61 percent of patients were female, 54 percent reported prior use of cannabis and all were referred to the clinics by practising physicians outside the clinic network. “A retrospective analysis was performed on a cohort of patients using medical cannabis. These data are part of an ongoing database gathered by Canabo Medical Clinic on medical cannabis patients,” the study notes.

Benzodiapines, a class of psychoactive drugs, include the most common sedatives and anti-anxiety medications. This class of medication is used to treat anxiety, insomnia and alcohol, seizure and spasticity disorders. “Complications of long-term use include lack of concentration, dependence, tolerance, overdose and addiction,” the research adds.

Findings indicate that after completing an average two-month prescription course of medical cannabis, 30.1 percent of patients had discontinued use of benzodiazepines, 44.5 percent at follow-up after two prescriptions, and 45.2 percent at final follow-up after three medical cannabis prescription courses. This shows “a stable cessation rate over an average of six months,” study authors suggest.

Conditions precipitating cannabis treatment

Photo by krisanapong detraphiphat / iStock / Getty Images Plus

Reported primary conditions driving cannabinoid treatment were grouped into neurological, 7.5 percent; pain, 47.9 percent; psychiatric conditions, 31.9 percent; and other, 12.7 percent. “After three clinic visits, 45.0 percent of patients using benzodiazepines, and 30.3 percent of patients who discontinued benzodiazepines, reported that their life was impacted by their medical condition ‘all the time’,” the research reports.