Medical Use of Cannabis Tied to Higher Prevalence of Cannabis Use Disorder
THURSDAY, Jan. 23, 2025 -- 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.
Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Read this next
Features of Immunesenescence Present in Early Stages of Rheumatoid Arthritis
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2025 -- Some features of immunesenescence are present in the very early stages of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a study published online Sept. 3 in...
Urine Biomarker Panel Sensitive, Specific for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2025 -- A urine-based biomarker panel has high accuracy for diagnosing prostate cancer (PCa), according to a study published in the September issue of...
Hospitals Vary in Their Definition of Blood Culture Contamination
THURSDAY, Sept. 11, 2025 -- U.S. hospitals vary in how they define blood culture contamination (BCC), according to a study published online July 11 in the Journal of Clinical...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.