Medical Use of Cannabis Tied to Higher Prevalence of Cannabis Use Disorder

THURSDAY, Jan. 23, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Adults aged 18 to 49 years reporting medical-only or medical-nonmedical cannabis use may have a higher prevalence of cannabis use disorder (CUD) than those reporting nonmedical only, according to a research letter published online Jan. 22 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Beth Han, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues examined differences in cannabis use frequency and CUD prevalence for medical-only and medical-nonmedical versus nonmedical-only use among U.S. adults aged 18 to 49 years. The analysis included data from 72,668 participants in the 2021 to 2022 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.

The researchers found that 29.5 percent of respondents reported past-year cannabis use: 83.7 percent for nonmedical-only use, 9.2 percent medical-only use, and 5.7 percent for medical-nonmedical use. More than one-third (34.8 percent) had CUD. A higher adjusted prevalence of severe, moderate, and mild CUD was seen among men and women aged 18 to 34 years and men aged 35 to 49 years reporting medical-only or medical-nonmedical use versus those reporting nonmedical-only use. Adults reporting medical-only or medical-nonmedical use had more days of cannabis use than those reporting nonmedical-only use.

“Clinicians should consider addiction risk before recommending medical cannabis and, if they do, should monitor for CUD emergence,” the authors write.

One author disclosed having long-term stocks with relevant companies.

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