Medicinal cannabis : History, Pharmacology and Implication for the Acute Care Settings

Mary Barna Bridgeman, PharmD, BCPS, BCGP; and Daniel T. Abazia, PharmD, BCPS, CPE

Pharmacy & Therapeutics®, 2017 • Vol. 42 No. 3, pp 180-188.

 

INTRODUCTION

Medicinal cannabis, or medicinal marijuana, is a therapy that has garnered much national attention in recent years.

Controversies surrounding legal, ethical, and societal implications associated with use; safe administration, packaging, and dispensing; adverse health consequences and deaths attributed to marijuana intoxication; and therapeutic indications based on limited clinical data represent some of the complexities associated with this treatment. Marijuana is currently recognized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA’s) Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (Controlled Substances Act) of 1970 as a Schedule I controlled substance, defined as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medicinal use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety data for use of the treatment under medical supervision.

Cannabis is the most commonly cultivated, trafficked, and abused illicit drug worldwide; according to the World Health Organization (WHO), marijuana consumption has an annual prevalence rate of approximately 147 million individuals or nearly 2.5% of the global population.

In 2014, approximately 22.2 million Americans 12 years of age or older reported current cannabis use, with 8.4% of this population reporting use within the previous month.

General cannabis use, both for recreational and medicinal purposes, has garnered increasing acceptance across the country as evidenced by legislative actions, ballot measures, and public opinion polls; an October 2016 Gallup poll on American’s views on legalizing cannabis indicated that 60% of the population surveyed believed the substance should be legalized.

Further, a recent Quinnipiac University poll concluded 54% of American voters surveyed would favor the legalization of cannabis without additional constraints, while 81% of respondents favored legalization of cannabis for medicinal purposes. Limited data suggest that health care providers also may consider this therapy in certain circumstances.

In the United States, cannabis is approved for medicinal use in 28 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico as of January 2017.10

The use and acceptance of medicinal cannabis continues to evolve, as shown by the growing number of states now permitting use for specific medical indications. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has considered how it might support the scientific rigor of medicinal cannabis claims, and the review of public data regarding safety and abuse potential. The purpose of this article is to review the historical significance of the use of medicinal cannabis and to discuss its pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and selectevidence on medicinal uses, as well as to describe the implications of evolving medicinal cannabis regulations and their effects on the acute care hospital setting.

 

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