Research studies, summarized and reviewed by Dr. Benjamin Caplan, MD¹ (Page 6)

This review gathered 36 studies that followed young people who used cannabis, mostly teenagers, and looked at their brains, thinking, and later life. The studies came from many countries and mostly watched people over time rather than testing a treatment.

This review gathered brain scan studies in adults that gave cannabidiol, a non-intoxicating part of the cannabis plant, and compared it with a dummy pill while people were stressed or anxious. The authors combined the results from twelve small studies.

Researchers reviewed the best available medical studies that tested cannabis-based medicines in people with a long-lasting condition that causes widespread body pain, poor sleep and tiredness. They looked at a few different versions of these medicines and compared them with dummy pills or standard painkillers.

Researchers used large collections of genetic data from people with schizophrenia, a serious mental illness, and from people in several populations, and compared them with genetic data about the medicines people take. They then used computer methods to look for shared genetic patterns and possible drug targets. The study used existing records and computer analysis and did not treat or follow any patients.

Researchers planned a review of published studies on young children who look calm before surgery but show signs of stress inside the body. The review will look at how well a behaviour-based anxiety score matches heart and body measures of stress, and will record medicines children already take at home.

This study looked at how using cannabis before surgery might affect pain and the need for painkillers after surgery. Researchers reviewed existing studies to see if there is a clear link between using cannabis before surgery and pain management after surgery.

This review looked at many earlier studies of people who were given medicinal cannabis (a prescribed, plant-derived treatment) for long-term health problems. It checked how well those studies explained and measured how people felt about their overall quality of life.

This review looked at the latest research on counseling-based treatments for teenagers who use alcohol or drugs and are seen as outpatients, meaning they live at home and visit a clinic. It covered studies published from 2018 to 2023 and reviewed what works best, with a focus on marijuana and opioid use. The authors compared the findings against earlier reviews.

This review pooled results from 98 studies that looked at whether cannabis-based medicines help people with cancer manage symptoms such as pain, worry, poor appetite, sickness and sleep problems. The studies involved many thousands of adults and some children, and tested many different products, doses and ways of taking them.

This review pooled earlier studies that looked at what happened to cannabis use among teenagers and young adults in parts of the United States after recreational cannabis was made legal for adults. It searched many research databases and checked the quality of each study.