There is not enough evidence from high quality trials to recommend medical cannabis as a clinical intervention for musculoskeletal pain, the ARA has said in a position statement.

The statement is in direct response to legislation passed last year that paves the way for the use of medical cannabis in painful and chronic conditions.

“While there is evidence that… a proportion of individuals with chronic pain (including musculoskeletal pain) use uncontrolled cannabis preparations ostensibly for the self management of their symptoms, the ARA believes that all pharmacological interventions for musculoskeletal conditions should be informed by high quality evidence,” the statement says.

The peak professional body for rheumatologists maintains that evidence for the efficacy and safety of cannabis needs to come from randomised controlled trials.

Furthermore, “the role of any intervention should weigh RCT evidence for efficacy against potential harms detected in RCTs and longer-term observational data,” they say.

“There is currently not enough supportive evidence to recommend medical cannabis as a clinical intervention for chronic musculoskeletal pain outside of a clinical trial setting,” the statement concludes.

Fore a full copy of the position statement click here.