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cannabis (Cannabis sativa)

Sections:

  • Entire Monograph
  • Reported Uses
  • Reported Doses
  • Cautions
  • Drug Interactions
  • Adverse Reactions
  • Synonyms
  • Other Info
  • Add to Interaction Check

Entire Monograph

Reported Uses

  • NOTE: see Herb & Supplement Effectiveness Rating Definitions table
  • alcohol use disorder [Insufficient Evidence]
  • Alzheimer disease [Insufficient Evidence]
  • amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [Insufficient Evidence]
  • anorexia, cancer-related [Insufficient Evidence]
  • anxiety [Insufficient Evidence]
  • blepharospasm [Insufficient Evidence]
  • cachexia, cancer-related [Insufficient Evidence]
  • cancer-related pain [Insufficient Evidence]
  • chronic pain [Insufficient Evidence]
  • cognitive function [Insufficient Evidence]
  • Crohn disease [Insufficient Evidence]
  • depression [Insufficient Evidence]
  • fibromyalgia [Insufficient Evidence]
  • glaucoma [Insufficient Evidence]
  • HTN [Insufficient Evidence]
  • long COVID-19 [Insufficient Evidence]
  • migraine [Insufficient Evidence]
  • multiple sclerosis [Possibly Effective]
  • muscle wasting, HIV/AIDS-related [Insufficient Evidence]
  • nausea/vomiting, chemo-induced [Insufficient Evidence]
  • neuropathic pain [Possibly Effective]
  • obsessive-compulsive disorder [Insufficient Evidence]
  • Parkinson disease [Insufficient Evidence]
  • postop pain [Insufficient Evidence]
  • post-traumatic stress disorder [Insufficient Evidence]
  • preop anxiety [Insufficient Evidence]
  • rheumatoid arthritis [Insufficient Evidence]
  • sickle cell disease [Insufficient Evidence]
  • stress [Insufficient Evidence]
  • substance use disorder [Insufficient Evidence]
  • Tourette syndrome [Insufficient Evidence]
  • ulcerative colitis [Insufficient Evidence]

Reported Doses

Safety/efficacy may not be established; reported doses may be derived from limited or potentially inadequate studies with variable regimens, multi-ingredient products, or where concentration of active ingredients may vary widely

Special Note

[formulation clarification]
Info: medical cannabis typically involves unprocessed plant parts or extracts; active compounds are cannabinoids and may contain psychoactive delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and nonpsychoactive cannabidiol (CBD) components; for sole CBD constituent info see 'cannabidiol (CBD herbal extract)'; for FDA-approved Rx products see 'dronabinol' (oral synthetic THC) or 'cannabidiol (CBD)' (oral purified CBD); all other preparations are not FDA-approved

Effectiveness Ratings

[see Herb & Supplement Effectiveness Rating Definitions table]

alcohol use disorder

[Insufficient Evidence]
Dose: 1-3 g (1% THC and 24% CBD) cannabis flower via inhalation qd

blepharospasm

[Insufficient Evidence]
Dose: 1-10 drops (1.2-12 mg THC) cannabis extract PO qhs; Start: 1 drop cannabis extract PO qhs, then may titrate to optimal dose; Max: 10 drops/day; Info: extract containing 3.2% THC

chronic pain

[Insufficient Evidence]
Dose: 0.5-1 mg THC via inhalation x1

Crohn disease

[Insufficient Evidence (PO route)]
Dose: 2-40 mg THC and 8-160 mg CBD PO bid; Start: 2 mg THC and 8 mg CBD PO bid, then may titrate to optimal dose; Max: 80 mg/day THC and 320 mg/day CBD; Info: cannabis oil containing 4% THC and 16% CBD; given before meals; used with standard tx

[Insufficient Evidence (inhalation route)]
Dose: 115 mg THC via inhalation bid

fibromyalgia

[Insufficient Evidence]
Dose: 22.4 mg THC and <1 mg CBD via inhalation x1

glaucoma

[Insufficient Evidence]
Dose: 18 mg THC via inhalation x1; Info: 900 mg cigarette standardized to 2% THC

HTN

[Insufficient Evidence]
Dose: average 21.1 mg THC and 21.3 mg CBD PO qd; Info: cannabis oil containing 1-10% THC and 2-20% CBD

long COVID-19

[Insufficient Evidence]
Dose: 150 mg cannabis powder PO tid; Info: cannabis powder containing 1.343% w/w THC and 0.278% w/w CBD; given after meals

multiple sclerosis

[Possibly Effective]
Dose: 2.5 mg THC and 1.25 mg CBD PO bid, then incr. by 5 mg/day THC and 2.5 mg CBD q3 days for up to 12 days; Alt: 25-30 mg THC and 8-18 mg CBD PO qd; 10-15 mg/day THC PO divided bid

nausea/vomiting, chemo-induced

[Insufficient Evidence]
Dose: 2.5 mg THC and 2.5 mg CBD PO tid; Start: 1 day before chemo, then continue x5 days; Info: used with antiemetics

neuropathic pain

[Possibly Effective]
Dose: 1.6-96 mg THC via inhalation qd

Parkinson disease

[Insufficient Evidence]
Dose: 0.5 g cannabis via inhalation x1

post-traumatic stress disorder

[Insufficient Evidence]
Dose: 1.8 g cannabis flower via inhalation qd; Info: cannabis flower containing either 12% THC, 11% CBD, or a combination of 7.9% THC and 8.1% CBD

ulcerative colitis

[Insufficient Evidence]
Dose: 80 mg THC via inhalation bid; Info: used with standard tx

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