In their letter, Reece and Hulse point to a lack of high quality comparative efficacy data for cannabis use in many conditions, in distinction to the efficacy data required for therapeutic goods already registered for these same indications. As outlined in our article,1 there are a number of “missing links” that need to be considered before Australia is confident that safe and effective cannabis can be available to people in need. Moreover, recent publications provide summaries of the evidence for and against its safety and efficacy.2,3
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- 1 University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW
- 2 Hunter New England Local Health District, Newcastle, NSW
- 3 St Vincent's Health, Melbourne, VIC
- 1. Martin J, Bonomo Y. Medicinal cannabis in Australia: the missing links. Med J Aust 2016; 204: 371-373. <MJA full text>
- 2. Hill KP. Medical marijuana for treatment of chronic pain and other medical and psychiatric problems. A clinical review. JAMA 2015; 313: 2474-2483.
- 3. Whiting PF, Wolff RF, Deshpande S, et al. Cannabinoids for medical use: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA 2015; 313: 2456-2473.
- 4. Martin J, Shenfield G. The hazards of rapid approval of new drugs. Aust Prescr 2016; 39: 2-3.
- 5. Prasad V, Mailankody S. The accelerated approval of oncologic drugs: lessons from ponatinib. JAMA 2014; 311: 353-354.
- 6. ProCon.org [website]. 35 FDA-approved prescription drugs later pulled from the market. Santa Monica: ProCon.org; 2014. http://prescriptiondrugs.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=005528 (accessed June 2016).
- 7. Lexchin J. Post-market safety warnings for drugs approved in Canada under the Notice of Compliance with conditions policy. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2015; 79: 847-859.