Time to acknowledge the mixed effects of cannabis on health: a summary and critical review of the NASEM 2017 report on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids

Abstract

Time to acknowledge the mixed effects of cannabis on health: a summary and critical review of the NASEM 2017 report on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids This is a summary and critical review of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) report of the health effects of cannabis. The report stated that effects of cannabis are understudied, and research findings are mixed. It concluded that the underdeveloped evidence base poses a public health risk and rightly addressed complexities of cannabis research that need to be resolved collaboratively. We support NASEM's urgent call for research, but add that the mixed evidence base cannot be attributed solely to research limitations. Rather, we propose a need to acknowledge the heterogeneity in the effects of cannabis to advance the field.