Long-term and serious harms of medical cannabis and cannabinoids for chronic pain: a systematic review of non-randomised studies
Meta-analysisHumans
- Design
- Meta-analysis
- Subjects
- 39 non-randomised studies enrolling 12,143 adults with chronic pain
- Dose used in the study
- Not stated in the abstract
- Duration
- Studies with at least 4 weeks of follow-up
- What was measured
- Prevalence of adverse events, serious adverse events, psychiatric and cognitive events, discontinuation, dependence and withdrawal among users of medical cannabis or cannabinoids for chronic pain
What the authors reported
The review found:
- Very low certainty evidence that adverse events are common (26.0%, 95% CI 13.2% to 41.2%), including psychiatric events (13.5%).
- Serious adverse events and other listed harms each occurred in fewer than 1 in 20 patients.
- Longer use went with more reported adverse events.
- Palmitoylethanolamide was usually associated with few to no adverse events.
Limits of this study
A review of non-randomised studies with very low certainty evidence. Palmitoylethanolamide was one of many cannabinoid-related agents; the abstract gives no separate PEA numbers. Insufficient evidence compared cannabis harms with other pain treatments. Competing interests: none declared.
Source
PubMed 35926992 · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054282
Entry checked against the abstract on PubMed on 2026-09-22. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.