One in four Australians with IBD have used cannabis to manage their condition and most obtain it from illicit sources, a new study suggests
Patients who used cannabis said it improved their IBD symptoms and reduced use of prescription medication, according to researchers from the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics at the University of Sydney who conducted the anonymous online survey.
Of the 838 responses obtained, 212 (25%) were from people who reported current or previous users of cannabis (18.1% current, 7.2% previous).
Half of the current users also consumed cannabis recreationally although less frequently than for medicinal purposes.
Cannabis was mostly taken via smoking (joints 34.2%; water pipe/bongs 14.5%) or as an oral liquid (19.7%).
Only 3 respondents reported using legally accessed medicinal cannabis products, whereas most obtained cannabis from recreational dealers (44.6%), friends/family (26.1%), or grew it themselves (9.8%).
More than 90% of patients reported that medicinal cannabis use improved their symptom management – with greatest benefits reported for abdominal pain, stress, sleep, cramping and anxiety symptoms.
There were fewer benefits to symptoms associated with disease pathology, such as rectal bleeding, obstructive symptoms and stool frequency/consistency/urgency.
Most users (92.7%) endorsed cannabis as effective in symptom management.
Cannabis use was not associated with clinical ratings of IBD severity, although users reported more hospitalisations, less engagement with specialist services, and lower medication adherence.
Principal investigator Professor Iain McGregor said the survey was inspired by the experiences of a family from the Blue Mountains, NSW, whose father, Steven Taylor, was arrested for growing cannabis for his daughters who have severe IBD and found relief from non-intoxicating cannabis leaf juice preparations.
“This case reflects the reality that many IBD patients do not have their condition adequately managed by existing drugs and so turn to alternative options, such as cannabis, to manage their condition,” he said.
A statement from the Taylor family said: “Medicinal cannabis alleviated our daughters’ suffering after all conventional treatments failed. The survey reflects the lived experience in the community where vulnerable families resort to accessing unreliable products with no certainty of future supply. When doctors are so cautious about prescribing cannabis medicines and when current official products are unaffordable for patients, then either the law needs to change, or we need to have an amnesty for genuine medicinal users and their carers.”
Lead author Dr Melissa Benson from the Lambert Initiative said: “This survey is informative to future research in this field and to continuing the discussion around medicinal cannabis for IBD management – particularly so that clinicians may better understand what their patients’ may already be doing to self-manage their symptoms.”
The findings are published in Crohn’s and Colitis.