WEB DESK, July 3(ABC): It’s currently legal in 37 states and the District of Columbia. People are increasingly knowledgeable about its options, such as edibles and indica versus sativa (two of its strains). And those with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other rheumatic diseases are eager to try it.
Yet what is scientifically known about the medical use of cannabis products for rheumatic conditions can fit on a pinhead.
It’s Not Shocking That There Isn’t More Known About Cannabis
“I was disappointed but not surprised” by the low level of research, says W. Benjamin Nowell, PhD, the director of patient-centered research at the online arthritis community CreakyJoints.
Understanding the medicinal effects of cannabis is an important topic, Dr. Nowell says, because the question of “whether people should use it for pain and sleep disturbances related to a rheumatic disease is raised by patients and physicians all the time.”
Can It Help Ease Pain? Will It Improve Sleep? People With RA Are Interested in Cannabis
The fact that people with RA are extremely interested in cannabis was documented by CreakyJoints several years ago, when its patient-centered ArthritisPower Research Registry, where Nowell is a principal investigator, queried people online.