O impacto da cannabis medicinal sobre a redução de medicamentos opioides e melhora da qualidade de vida

Abstract

Opioids are widely used drugs, but with great potential for abuse, addiction, tolerance and overdose, which configures a crisis today. Studies show that the use of medical cannabis results in a decrease in the dose of these drugs, or even their complete replacement, in addition to improving the quality of life. The present study aims to carry out an integrative review of the literature, to condense the current knowledge about reducing drug doses and improving quality of life when using medical cannabis. The PubMed database was used so that, based on filters, we could find 27 articles published between 2000 and 2023, of which 8 were selected after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria and adequacy to the theme. Medical cannabis proved to be 5x more likely to reduce the dose of opioids and 17x more likely to complete treatment, in addition to participating in reducing alcohol and other illicit drugs and improving quality of life attested by the WHOQOL-BREF. Its risks are light and bearable for 84% of those who reported some side effect. In addition, given the reduction in medications, there is also an important reduction in the monthly cost of other prescription medications. Although further studies are needed to reach a concrete conclusion, cannabis therapy proves to be an effective, safe and economically viable alternative for reducing medications, mainly opioids, in addition to improving the quality of life of patients undergoing therapy.