Cannabis Industry And Medical Cannabis Clinics Need Regulation
There is little transparency about the clinical practices of medical cannabis clinics. To our knowledge, Canadian cannabis clinics have not published the indications, contraindications, or dosing protocols for the products they prescribe. The College of Family Physicians of Canada, in its 2014 guidance document,25 recommends restricting the prescribing of dried cannabis to patients with severe neuropathic pain unresponsive to all first-line medications. It also recommends a maximum dose of 700 mg of dried cannabis with 9% THC per day. However, in 2017, the average daily dose of prescribed medical cannabis in Canada was 2.3 g,1 well in excess of this recommended maximum. The average concentration of THC prescribed has not been reported, but many of the industry’s cannabis products contain concentrations of THC that are far above the 9% recommended by the guidance document, with some containing concentrations of 20% or more. To discourage inappropriate prescribing, some US states have im...