Evaluating the Supporting Evidence of Medical Cannabis Claims Made on Clinic Websites: Cross-Sectional Study
BackgroundSince the legalization of medical cannabis in Canada in 2013, prescription of cannabis for medical purposes has become commonplace and a multibillion dollar industry has formed. Much of the media coverage surrounding medical cannabis has been positive in nature, lea...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JMIR Publications
2023-06-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| Online Access: | https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e45550 |
| _version_ | 1827857127164608512 |
|---|---|
| author | Braden O'Neill Jacob Ferguson Lauren Dalueg Abban Yusuf Abirami Kirubarajan Taryn Lloyd Eisi Mollanji Navindra Persaud |
| author_facet | Braden O'Neill Jacob Ferguson Lauren Dalueg Abban Yusuf Abirami Kirubarajan Taryn Lloyd Eisi Mollanji Navindra Persaud |
| author_sort | Braden O'Neill |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundSince the legalization of medical cannabis in Canada in 2013, prescription of cannabis for medical purposes has become commonplace and a multibillion dollar industry has formed. Much of the media coverage surrounding medical cannabis has been positive in nature, leading to Canadians potentially underestimating the adverse effects of medical cannabis use. In recent years, there has been a large increase in clinic websites advertising the use of medical cannabis for health indications. However, little is known about the quality of the evidence used by these clinic websites to describe the effectiveness of cannabis used for medical purposes.
ObjectiveWe aimed to identify the indications for medical cannabis reported by cannabis clinics in Ontario, Canada, and the evidence these clinics cited to support cannabis prescription.
MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional web search to identify all cannabis clinic websites within Ontario, Canada, that had physician involvement and identified their primary purpose as cannabis prescription. Two reviewers independently searched these websites to identify all medical indications for which cannabis was promoted and reviewed and critically appraised all studies cited using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence rubric.
ResultsA total of 29 clinics were identified, promoting cannabis for 20 different medical indications including migraines, insomnia, and fibromyalgia. There were 235 unique studies cited on these websites to support the effectiveness of cannabis for these indications. A high proportion (36/235, 15.3%) of the studies were identified to be at the lowest level of evidence (level 5). Only 4 clinic websites included any mention of harms associated with cannabis.
ConclusionsCannabis clinic websites generally promote cannabis use as medically effective but cite low-quality evidence to support these claims and rarely discuss harms. The recommendation of cannabis as a general therapeutic for many indications unsupported by high-quality evidence is potentially misleading for medical practitioners and patients. This disparity should be carefully evaluated in context of the specific medical indication and an individualized patient risk assessment. Our work illustrates the need to increase the quality of research performed on the medical effects of cannabis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:35:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0c44b6ea74b9406a9b7e4b7f6e7d39dd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1438-8871 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:35:54Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-0c44b6ea74b9406a9b7e4b7f6e7d39dd2023-08-29T00:08:39ZengJMIR PublicationsJournal of Medical Internet Research1438-88712023-06-0125e4555010.2196/45550Evaluating the Supporting Evidence of Medical Cannabis Claims Made on Clinic Websites: Cross-Sectional StudyBraden O'Neillhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2164-8263Jacob Fergusonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4512-4280Lauren Dalueghttps://orcid.org/0009-0004-6646-2010Abban Yusufhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6189-6857Abirami Kirubarajanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9807-5024Taryn Lloydhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5858-4465Eisi Mollanjihttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9159-5729Navindra Persaudhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3327-5580 BackgroundSince the legalization of medical cannabis in Canada in 2013, prescription of cannabis for medical purposes has become commonplace and a multibillion dollar industry has formed. Much of the media coverage surrounding medical cannabis has been positive in nature, leading to Canadians potentially underestimating the adverse effects of medical cannabis use. In recent years, there has been a large increase in clinic websites advertising the use of medical cannabis for health indications. However, little is known about the quality of the evidence used by these clinic websites to describe the effectiveness of cannabis used for medical purposes. ObjectiveWe aimed to identify the indications for medical cannabis reported by cannabis clinics in Ontario, Canada, and the evidence these clinics cited to support cannabis prescription. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional web search to identify all cannabis clinic websites within Ontario, Canada, that had physician involvement and identified their primary purpose as cannabis prescription. Two reviewers independently searched these websites to identify all medical indications for which cannabis was promoted and reviewed and critically appraised all studies cited using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence rubric. ResultsA total of 29 clinics were identified, promoting cannabis for 20 different medical indications including migraines, insomnia, and fibromyalgia. There were 235 unique studies cited on these websites to support the effectiveness of cannabis for these indications. A high proportion (36/235, 15.3%) of the studies were identified to be at the lowest level of evidence (level 5). Only 4 clinic websites included any mention of harms associated with cannabis. ConclusionsCannabis clinic websites generally promote cannabis use as medically effective but cite low-quality evidence to support these claims and rarely discuss harms. The recommendation of cannabis as a general therapeutic for many indications unsupported by high-quality evidence is potentially misleading for medical practitioners and patients. This disparity should be carefully evaluated in context of the specific medical indication and an individualized patient risk assessment. Our work illustrates the need to increase the quality of research performed on the medical effects of cannabis.https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e45550 |
| spellingShingle | Braden O'Neill Jacob Ferguson Lauren Dalueg Abban Yusuf Abirami Kirubarajan Taryn Lloyd Eisi Mollanji Navindra Persaud Evaluating the Supporting Evidence of Medical Cannabis Claims Made on Clinic Websites: Cross-Sectional Study Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| title | Evaluating the Supporting Evidence of Medical Cannabis Claims Made on Clinic Websites: Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_full | Evaluating the Supporting Evidence of Medical Cannabis Claims Made on Clinic Websites: Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the Supporting Evidence of Medical Cannabis Claims Made on Clinic Websites: Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the Supporting Evidence of Medical Cannabis Claims Made on Clinic Websites: Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_short | Evaluating the Supporting Evidence of Medical Cannabis Claims Made on Clinic Websites: Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_sort | evaluating the supporting evidence of medical cannabis claims made on clinic websites cross sectional study |
| url | https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e45550 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bradenoneill evaluatingthesupportingevidenceofmedicalcannabisclaimsmadeonclinicwebsitescrosssectionalstudy AT jacobferguson evaluatingthesupportingevidenceofmedicalcannabisclaimsmadeonclinicwebsitescrosssectionalstudy AT laurendalueg evaluatingthesupportingevidenceofmedicalcannabisclaimsmadeonclinicwebsitescrosssectionalstudy AT abbanyusuf evaluatingthesupportingevidenceofmedicalcannabisclaimsmadeonclinicwebsitescrosssectionalstudy AT abiramikirubarajan evaluatingthesupportingevidenceofmedicalcannabisclaimsmadeonclinicwebsitescrosssectionalstudy AT tarynlloyd evaluatingthesupportingevidenceofmedicalcannabisclaimsmadeonclinicwebsitescrosssectionalstudy AT eisimollanji evaluatingthesupportingevidenceofmedicalcannabisclaimsmadeonclinicwebsitescrosssectionalstudy AT navindrapersaud evaluatingthesupportingevidenceofmedicalcannabisclaimsmadeonclinicwebsitescrosssectionalstudy |