Marijuana Use in Middle and High School Students: Insights from the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey.

OBJECTIVE: The use of marijuana by middle and high school students could have important consequences, including physical harm, poor decision making, increased use of tobacco products, and involvement in the legal system. Determining the level of use by students provides the initial information needed to understand the extent of the problem and possible approaches to reducing student use. METHODS: The National Youth Tobacco Surveys provide important information about the frequency of use of nicotine and tobacco products by a representative sample of students in schools in the United States. The 2020 survey included a question about the use of marijuana by survey respondents. The results from the survey were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression to model the association between the use of marijuana and the use of electronic or conventional cigarettes. RESULTS: The final survey from 2020 included 13,357 students, with 6537 male respondents and 6820 female respondents. Ages ranged from younger than 12 to 18 and older years; 961 students used both cigarettes and marijuana, and 1880 students used both electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and marijuana. The adjusted odds ratio for the use of marijuana increased in female students, in non-Hispanic Black students, Hispanic students, and all ages from 13 through 18 and older. The perception of harm associated with either e-cigarettes or cigarettes did not change the odds ratio for using marijuana. Students who did not smoke cigarettes or did not smoke e-cigarettes had significantly lower odds ratios for using marijuana. CONCLUSIONS: The 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey indicates that approximately 18.4% of middle school and high school students have used marijuana. Parents, educators, public health officials, and policymakers need to understand that there is a relatively high use of marijuana among students and that education programs should focus on its use with or without other tobacco products.

School Prejudice and Substance Use from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood in the United States: Variation across Race and Ethnicity.

BACKGROUND: Racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes have been consistently documented in the health literature. Until recently, many studies have evidenced associations between prejudice and health behaviors using cross-sectional data. However, studies assessing the link between school prejudice and health behaviors from adolescence to adulthood are limited. METHODS: To address this gap, we use data from Waves I, II, and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (1994-2002) to examine how perceptions of school prejudice over time influence cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and marijuana use from adolescence to emerging adulthood. We also examine variation across race and ethnicity. RESULTS: Results indicate that school prejudice in adolescence (Wave I) is associated with higher cigarette use, alcohol use, and marijuana use in later adolescence (Wave II). White and Asian adolescents who perceived school prejudice were more likely to use alcohol, while Hispanic adolescents were more likely to use marijuana. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts to reduce school prejudice among adolescents may have implications in reducing substance use.

Disseminated Mucormycosis from Marijuana Use in a Renal Transplant Patient.

Mucormycosis is a serious fungal infection that typically affects immunocompromised patients. We present a case of disseminated mucormycosis infection in a 34-year-old male with a history of marijuana use and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis who underwent living unrelated kidney transplant. After his transplant, he developed recurrent focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Two months later, he developed pleuritic chest pain and imaging revealed a ground glass opacity with a surrounding dense consolidation within the right upper lobe, concerning for an angioinvasive fungal infection. During the hospitalization, his creatinine increased, and a biopsy of the allograft kidney demonstrated acute tubulointerstitial nephritis, acute vasculitis, and glomerular intracapillary fibrin thrombi with angioinvasive Mucorales fungal infection. The patient subsequently underwent transplant nephrectomy. Grossly, the allograft was pale white to dusky tan-red with poorly delineated cortical medullary junctions. Microscopic examination revealed necrotic tubules with a dense neutrophilic infiltrate, multinucleated giant cells, and ribbon-like, aseptate hyphae. A Gomori's methenamine silver stain highlighted the fungal elements, which were morphologically consistent with Mucorales. Review of the literature revealed that the incidence of mucormycosis within the first year is low at approximately 0.07% for renal transplant patients with an estimated overall mortality of 40-50%. Additionally, few case reports have been published demonstrating marijuana use as a cause of pulmonary mucormycosis or even disseminated disease. The purpose of our case report is to add knowledge to the presenting symptoms and investigate the association of marijuana use with pulmonary and disseminated mucormycosis.

Effectiveness of a Mobile App to Increase Risk Perception of Tobacco, Alcohol, and Marijuana Use in Mexican High School Students: Quantitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Young people have the highest rate of drug use worldwide. Recent data from Mexico in this population show that the prevalence of illicit drug use doubled between 2011 and 2016 (2.9%-6.2%), with marijuana being the one with the highest increase (2.4%-5.3%), but also point out that alcohol and tobacco use have remained steady or decreased. Mexican adolescents are at high risk for drug use owing to a low perception of risk and the availability of drugs. Adolescence is an ideal period to reduce or prevent risky behaviors using evidence-based strategies. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to test the short-term effectiveness of a mobile intervention app ("What Happens if you Go Too Far?" ["¿Qué pasa si te pasas?"]) that seeks to increase risk perception of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use in a sample of Mexican high school students. METHODS: A nonexperimental evaluation based on pretest-posttest design was used to measure the effectiveness of a preventive intervention using a mobile app, "What Happens If You Go Too Far?" The dimensions analyzed were knowledge of drugs and their effects, life skills, self-esteem, and risk perception. The intervention was conducted on a high school campus with 356 first-year students. RESULTS: The sample included 359 first-year high school students (mean 15, SD 0.588 years; women: 224/359, 62.4% men: 135/359, 37.6%). The intervention increased the overall risk perception of tobacco (χ24=21.6; P<.001) and alcohol use (χ24=15.3; P<.001). There was no significant difference in the perception that it is dangerous to smoke 5 cigarettes, and there was a marginal difference in the perception that it is very dangerous to smoke 1 cigarette or to use alcohol or marijuana. We used a generalized estimating equation method to determine the impact of the variables on risk perception. The results showed that knowledge about smoking increased the risk perception of smoking 1 cigarette (odds ratio [OR] 1.1065, 95% CI 1.013-1.120; P=.01), and that knowledge about marijuana use (OR 1.109, 95% CI 1.138-1.185; P=.002) and self-esteem (OR 1.102, 95% CI 1.007-1.206; P=.04) produced significant increases in the risk perception of consuming 5 cigarettes. Resistance to peer pressure and assertiveness also increased the perceived risk of using tobacco and alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention has the potential to increase the perception of risk toward drug use in high school students by providing knowledge about the effects and psychosocial risks of drug use and by strengthening life skills that are associated with increased risk perception. The use of mobile technologies in intervention processes may broaden the scope of preventive work for adolescents.

Suicide Ideation, Distress, and Peer Perceptions as Predictors of Substance Use.

BACKGROUND: Substance use and suicide ideation are common behaviors that often overlap among college students. However, clues about their temporal relationship, as well as moderating factors (e.g., distress, peer perceptions of substance use), are understudied. Indeed, those with a history of suicide ideation may use avoidance coping (including substance use) to manage distress, underscoring the possibility of substance use as a response to suicide ideation, an oft-stressful experience in and of itself. Further, as a low sense of belongingness confers risk for suicide ideation, distress may increase compliance with perceived cultural norms, thus increasing substance use behavior. This study examined the effect of the suicide ideation-distress-peer perception interaction on substance use. METHOD: Participants were 3,608 undergraduate students across eleven college campuses. Measures of past month substance use frequency, general distress, peer perceptions of substance use, and past year suicide ideation were utilized. RESULTS: Suicidal ideation was associated with e-cigarette, marijuana, and illicit drug use. There were main effects of suicide ideation (on e-cigarette and marijuana use) and peer perceptions of substance use (on tobacco, alcohol, e-cigarette, and marijuana use), but not distress, on past 30-day substance use. Further, the three-way interaction of suicide ideation, distress, and peer perceptions of substance use predicted frequency of past month tobacco and illicit drug use. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide ideation may be temporally linked to use of specific substances. Peer perception and distress may strengthen the suicide ideation-substance use relationship. These factors should be carefully considered when treating individuals with substance use.

Legal sourcing of ten cannabis products in the Canadian cannabis market, 2019-2021: a repeat cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: One of the objectives of cannabis legalization in Canada is to transition consumers from the illegal to the legal market. Little is known about how legal sourcing varies across different cannabis product types, provinces, and frequency of cannabis use. METHODS: Data were analyzed from Canadian respondents in the International Cannabis Policy Study, a repeat cross-sectional survey conducted annually from 2019 to 2021. Respondents were 15,311 past 12-month cannabis consumers of legal age to purchase cannabis. Weighted logistic regression models estimated the association between legal sourcing ("all"/ "some"/ "none") of ten cannabis product types, province, and frequency of cannabis use over time. RESULTS: The percentage of consumers who sourced "all" their cannabis products from legal sources in the past 12 months varied by product type, ranging from 49% of solid concentrate consumers to 82% of cannabis drink consumers in 2021. The percentage of consumers sourcing "all" their respective products legally was greater in 2021 than 2020 across all products. Legal sourcing varied by frequency of use: weekly or more frequent consumers were more likely to source "some" (versus "none") of their products legally versus less frequent consumers. Legal sourcing also varied by province, with a lower likelihood of legal sourcing in Québec of products whose legal sale was restricted (e.g., edibles). CONCLUSION: Legal sourcing increased over time, demonstrating progress in the transition to the legal market for all products in the first three years of legalization in Canada. Legal sourcing was highest for drinks and oils and lowest for solid concentrates and hash.

Marijuana use behaviors on Texas college campuses.

There is limited contemporary research examining marijuana use behaviors that occur on college campuses. PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine: (1) What is the prevalence of marijuana use on college campuses, (2) where are students commonly using marijuana on college campuses, (3) what are the sociodemographic characteristics of students most likely to use marijuana on a college campus, and (4) how do these findings vary between modes of marijuana use (i.e., vaped versus another mode)? METHODS: Participants were 14,005 college students (aged 18-25) enrolled in 19 Texas colleges during spring 2022 (Mean age = 20.16; 65.81% female; 30.85% non-Hispanic white, 42.08% Hispanic/Latino, 27.07% another race/ethnicity; 75.81% heterosexual). RESULTS: Nearly 40% of students ever used marijuana and of these students, over 26% ever used marijuana on their college campus. Although the most common mode for marijuana use was smoking, the majority of students that used marijuana on a college campus reported vaping marijuana (64.89%). Students that ever vaped marijuana on campus were 2.35 times more likely than those that used marijuana via other modes to use marijuana in a public location on campus (i.e., not in a dormitory). CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that marijuana use on college campuses is common and suggest that the ability to vape marijuana may increase marijuana use on college campuses, including in public locations such as classrooms and libraries. College campuses may consider increasing anti-marijuana enforcement efforts, especially those aimed at decreasing electronic vaping device use in general, in order to prevent and decrease marijuana use.

Attitudes Toward Cannabis Use Legalization and Openness to Legal Use Among Young Partygoers in Norway.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes toward legalization of cannabis use and openness to legal use among Norwegian partygoers. METHOD: We examined a combined sample (N = 4,790; 46.2% female) of young partygoers (M age = 23.7, SD = 7.3) from three Norwegian studies on substance use in various settings: music festivals (n = 1,312), nightlife (n = 2,005), and high school graduation (n = 1,473). Through onsite surveys, the participants were asked if they thought cannabis use should be legal in Norway and whether they themselves would use the drug if legalized. These responses (yes/no/don't know) were examined in relation to participants' characteristics and cannabis use history using summary statistics and multinomial regression models. RESULTS: Although 46.1% of participants reported having used cannabis at least once, only 1/3 (32.6%) favored legalization and 1/4 (25.6%) stated they would themselves use cannabis if legalized. Yet, even among never-users, we observed non-opposition to legalization (16.4% in favor; 14.9% don't know) and openness to legal use (8.2% would use; 12.4% don't know). Histories of cannabis, tobacco, or any other drug use, sex (male), and age younger than 21 years (vs. 30 or older) were consistently associated with affirmative responses to both questions. Openness to legal use was strongly associated with favorable legalization attitudes and age younger than 21, even after accounting for lifetime cannabis use history. CONCLUSIONS: Favoring cannabis legalization and openness to legal use were relatively low in this sample of young Norwegian partygoers. Yet, prevalence of cannabis use may increase after legalization among its supporters and among those younger than 21, especially if "don't know" responses are considered.

Internal Structure and Invariance of a Brief Version of the Marijuana Motives Measure (MMM-P15) in a Peruvian Population of Marijuana users / Estructura Interna e Invarianza de una Versión Breve del Marijuana Motives Measure (MMM-P15) en Población Peruana de Consumidores de Marihuana

Antecedentes: La identificación de los motivos por los cuales se consume marihuana se ha visto apoyada por instrumentos como el MMM. A pesar de su importancia, aún no se cuenta con versiones breves válidas de este en países latinoamericanos. Este trabajo busca cubrir esta carencia aportando evidencia de validez y confiabilidad, así como la invarianza estructural del MMM. Método: La muestra comprende 1164 consumidores de marihuana, varones y mujeres, con edades entre 18 y 49 años, de Lima y Callao. Resultados: El análisis factorial halló una estructura pentafactorial. La versión breve (MMM-P15) y extensa (MMM) muestran favorables propiedades de estructura y consistencia interna (ꙍ> .88, H > .84) con adecuados índices de ajuste del instrumento corto (RMSEA = .058 [IC 90% .050, .067], SRMR = .044, GFI = .99, TLI = .99, CFI = .99). Asimismo, ambas versiones mantienen la invarianza según el sexo y se encontró evidencia de validez interna (AVE > .50) y con otros constructos (CAST y SWLS). Conclusiones: El MMM-P15 evidencia propiedades psicométricas que respaldan su uso tanto en hombres y mujeres consumidores de marihuana, además es un instrumento corto, versátil y útil para fines de investigación incluso en contextos clínicos.(AU9

Background: The identification of the reasons for marijuana use has been supported by instruments such as the MMM. Despite its importance, there are still no valid brief versions of this instrument in Latin American countries. This paper seeks to fill this gap by providing evidence of validity and reliability, as well as the structural invariance of the MMM. Method:The sample consisted of 1164 male and female marijuana users, aged between 18 and 49 years, from Lima and Callao. Results: The factor analysis found a pentafactorial structure. The brief version (MMM-P15) and the wide MMM showed favorable properties from structure and reliability (ꙍ> .88, H > .84) with appropriate indicators of the short instrument adjustment (RMSEA = .058 [CI 90% .050, .067], SRMR = .044,TLI = .99, CFI = .99). Likewise, both versions maintain the invariance of the instrument according to sex and evidence of internal validity was found (AVE > .50). Aside from bringing evidence of validity with other constructs like CAST and SWLS scale. Conclusions:The MMM-P15 shows psychometric properties that support its use in both male and female marijuana users, and it is a short, versatile, and useful instrument for research pur-poses even in clinical settings.(AU)

The association between early onset of alcohol, smokeless tobacco and marijuana use with adult binge drinking in United States.

Binge drinking is a deadly pattern of excessive alcohol use that is associated with multiple diseases in the United States. To date, little is known about the associations between the early onset of substance use and other factors with the severity of adult binge drinking. The 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data was used to identify binge drinking (binary and in number of days in the past month). Age at onset was categorized into four groups as 1-12, 13-14, 15-17, or beyond 18. Weighted multivariate logistic regression and Poisson regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between early onset of alcohol, smokeless tobacco, and marijuana use with binge drinking. The severity of binge drinking was statistically significantly associated with substance use (4.15 days in a month), early onset of alcohol, smokeless tobacco, and marijuana use (2.15-4.93 days, all p-values < 0.0001), after accounting for the covariates. Past year substance use disorder is strongly associated with binge drinking. The severity of adult binge drinking is significantly associated with early onset of substance use including alcohol, smokeless tobacco, and marijuana. Continued efforts are warranted to improve substance use prevention and treatment tailored for adolescents and youths to prevent development of adult binge drinking.

The Association Between Adverse and Positive Childhood Experiences and Marijuana Use During Lactation.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with substance use later in life, including marijuana use. It is unknown whether these behaviors extend to lactating women. Our objective was to examine the association between childhood ACE and marijuana use in lactating individuals and determine whether positive childhood experiences (PCEs) modified this association. Methods: This study included 617 lactating individuals from the UC San Diego Human Milk Research Biorepository enrolled from 2015 to 2020. ACE and PCE histories were assessed by the Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire. Past 2-week marijuana use was self-reported at enrollment. Multivariable log-linear regressions were used to calculate adjusted risk ratios (aRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for ACE history and marijuana use, and to assess modification by PCE. Results: Marijuana use during lactation was higher among individuals who reported three or more ACEs (aRR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.23-5.44), household dysfunction (aRR = 3.08, 95% CI = 1.17-8.10), sexual abuse (aRR = 2.25, 95% CI = 1.08-4.68), or physical abuse (aRR = 2.10, 95% CI = 1.02-4.13). There was no association between emotional abuse and marijuana use during lactation. There was no effect modification by PCEs. Conclusion: Higher ACE frequency, and specifically history of household dysfunction, physical abuse, or sexual abuse increased risk for marijuana use during lactation. Because of marijuana's potential adverse effects on the infant through human milk, postpartum ACE screening is warranted.

Impacts of recreational cannabis legalization on cannabis use: a longitudinal discordant twin study.

AIMS: To estimate the effect of recreational legalization on cannabis use frequency and sources of variance across legal environments. DESIGN: Longitudinal discordant twin and gene-environment interaction models in twins recruited from birth records and assessed prospectively. SETTING: The United States, including states with different recreational cannabis policies before and after 2014, when recreational cannabis was first legalized. PARTICIPANTS: Two longitudinal, prospectively assessed samples of American twins aged 24-47 (n = 1425 in legal states, n = 1996 in illegal states), including 111 monozygotic pairs discordant for residence. MEASUREMENTS: Current cannabis use frequency (measured continuously and ordinally) was the primary outcome, and the predictor was recreational status of cannabis (legal/illegal) in the participant's state of residence at the time of assessment. Covariates include age, sex and cannabis use frequency prior to 2014. FINDINGS: Accounting for pre-2014 use, residents of legal states used cannabis more frequently than residents of illegal states (b = 0.21, P = 8.08 × 10-5 ). Comparing 111 pairs of monozygotic twins discordant for residence confirmed the effect (b = 0.18, P = 0.014). There was inconclusive evidence for genetic influences on cannabis use frequency that were specific to the legal environment [χ2  = 2.9 × 10-9 , degrees of freedom (d.f.) = 1, P > 0.999]. Existing genetic influences were moderated by the legal environment, as the genetic correlation between marijuana use before and after legalization was lower in states that legalized (rgenetic  = 0.24) compared with states that did not (rgenetic  = 0.78, Pdifference  = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: In the United States, there appears to be a ~ 20% average increase in cannabis use frequency attributable to recreational legalization, consistent across increasingly rigorous designs. In addition, the heritability of cannabis use frequency appears to be moderated by legalization.

Personal Values and Substance Use in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Risk or Protective Factors?

Background: Personal values are desirable trans-situational goals that serve as guiding principles in people's lives and have been widely found to be related to people's behavior. Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the relation between personal values and youth involvement in frequency of alcohol and cannabis use and problems related to substance use, comparing two groups of adolescents and young adults: 237 adolescents (age 14-19 years; 58.2% females) and 236 young adults (age 20-30 years; 78.8% females). Participants were asked to fill in an online self-report questionnaire aimed at assessing the constructs of interest. Results: The results showed that openness to change, despite being more prioritized by adolescents, was significantly positively related to frequency of cannabis use and problems related to substance use only for young adults. Conclusions: Implications for preventive interventions and further expansions of the study are discussed.

Taking alcohol from one's parents' home without permission as a risk factor for greater alcohol and marijuana use during the transition into college.

While adolescents and underage emerging adults typically obtain alcohol from social sources (e.g., parents, friends, parties), taking alcohol from the home without permission is not well understood. The current study investigated plausible individual characteristics associated with taking alcohol from one's parents' home without permission and associations between taking alcohol and drinking, alcohol consequences, and marijuana use. Two cohorts of alcohol-experienced underage emerging adults (N = 562) completed a web-based survey pre-college matriculation. Participants reported sources of alcohol (friend, mother, father, party, took it from home); drinking; consequences; marijuana use (ever and past 30 days); age of alcohol initiation; symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress; parental modeling of drinking; and demographic information. Results revealed that taking alcohol was significantly associated with several of the measures examined here (e.g., having obtained alcohol from friends, parents, and parties; earlier age of alcohol initiation; parental modeling of alcohol). Having taken alcohol from the home without permission and obtained it from friends were uniquely associated with increased odds of typical weekly drinking, consequences, and marijuana use in the past 30 days when controlling for all other variables assessed in this study (including drinking, in the consequences and marijuana models). Parent-based interventions targeting adolescents and emerging adults should inform parents of the risks associated with taking alcohol from the home and obtaining it from friends. Further, parents should also be informed that supplying their adolescent with alcohol or modeling drinking may increase the likelihood that they take alcohol from their home.

Marijuana Use and Older Adults' Self-Reported Difficulty Concentrating, Remembering, or Making Decisions.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the relationship, in adults 50 years and older, between self-reported past-month marijuana use and difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions (SDCRMD) because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). METHOD: We relied on a sample of 294,000 adults (53.4% female), 50 years and older, from 21 U.S. states and two territories over 4 years (2016-2019). We conducted descriptive analyses to examine the prevalence of past-month marijuana use and SDCRMD and used multivariate logistic regression to examine the association between marijuana use and SDCRMD, controlling for demographic and health-related variables. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of SDCRMD was 11.0%, 95% confidence interval (CI) [10.6%, 11.5%], and the prevalence of self-reported past-month marijuana use was 7.1%, 95% CI [6.7%, 7.5%]. Of those reporting past-month marijuana use, 19.9%, 95% CI [17.8%, 22.1%] reported SDCRMD. Past-month marijuana users were 1.5, 95% CI [1.1, 2.1] times more likely to report SDCRMD than nonusers. Prevalence of past-month marijuana use was higher in states with legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana; however, prevalence of SDCRMD was not. CONCLUSIONS: We found a strong, positive, and statistically significant relationship between past-month marijuana use and SDCRMD. This finding serves as an important first step in identifying the relationship between older adults' self-reported marijuana use and their difficulty concentrating, remembering, and decision-making because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition; however, additional research is needed.

Evidencia científica actualizada del tratamiento con cannabis medicinal en pacientes con dolor crónico / Current evidence of medical cannabis treatment in patients with chronic pain

El cannabis medicinal ha sido promovido por los medios de comunicación y por la opinión pública en general. La planta del cannabis y los medicamentos a base de cannabis (CbM) han pasado por alto los estudios tradicionales basados en la evidencia, y han sido legalizados en muchos países sin pasar por el camino habitual de aprobación de los medicamentos. La comunidad médica debe conocer la evidencia actual al respecto para poder asesorar de manera competente a los pacientes. Esta revisión explicará brevemente la situación actual de la evidencia, de los obstáculos encontrados y de los posicionamientos de las respectivas sociedades del dolor respecto a la utilización del cannabis medicinal para el tratamiento del dolor.(AU)

Medical cannabis has been promoted by the media and by public opinion. The cannabis herb and cannabis-based medicines have bypassed traditional evidence-based studies, and have been legalized in many countries without going through the usual path of drug approval. The medical community must be aware of the current evidence in this regard in order to appropriately advise patients. This review will explain the current status of the evidence, the obstacles encountered to obtain evidence, and the positions of the respective pain societies regarding the use of medicinal cannabis for the treatment of pain.(AU)

Es útil el cannabis medicinal para el tratamiento de la fibromialgia? / Is medical cannabis useful for the treatment of fibromyalgia?

La fibromialgia es una enfermedad crónica de etiología desconocida hasta la fecha, que asocia una sintomatología muy variada, condicionando severamente la calidad de vida de las personas que la padecen. Clínicamente se caracteriza por presentar dolor musculoesquelético generalizado, cansancio desmesurado para la actividad física realizada, mala higiene del sueño o alteraciones emocionales. Se trata de una patología prevalente, pudiendo llegar a afectar hasta un 2-3 % de la población, en su mayoría mujeres de edad media. El diagnóstico es clínico y habitualmente tardío. Según la literatura, existe una demora de aproximadamente dos años desde el diagnóstico hasta el inicio de un tratamiento adecuado. Durante este tiempo, el consumo de recursos derivados por pruebas innecesarias o pérdida de jornadas laborales la convierte en un problema de salud de primera índole. Condicionado por esa etiología desconocida, el tratamiento disponible para la fibromialgia no es curativo. Existen diversos tratamientos que han demostrado un efecto beneficioso en la evolución de la enfermedad como una educación del paciente, psicoterapia, ejercicio físico y tratamiento farmacológico. A pesar de su variedad, ninguno de estos tratamientos consigue de manera efectiva una mejoría permanente y duradera, lo que va a dar lugar a una búsqueda constante por parte de estos pacientes de tratamientos alternativos que les aporten nuevos resultados. En la actualidad, el cannabis medicinal es uno de esos posibles nuevos tratamientos que goza de una ilusión o esperanza como alternativa del tratamiento analgésico en estos pacientes. Se va a proceder a analizar la situación actual de la enfermedad de la fibromialgia, así como una revisión sistemática sobre la evidencia existente hasta la fecha, entre la fibromialgia y los cannabinoides.(AU)

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disease of unknown etiology that severely conditions the quality of life of people who suffer from it. It is characterized by general musculoskeletal pain, excessive fatigue for the physical activity performed, poor sleep hygiene or emotional disturbances. It is a very prevalent pathology and can affect up to 2-3 % of the population, mostly middle-aged women. Diagnosis is clinical, based on physical examination and usually it is usually carried out late. According to the literature, there is a delay of approximately two years from diagnosis to the initiation of appropriate treatment. During this time, the consumption of resources derived by unnecessary testing or loss of working hours derivate from the fibromyalgia makes it a major health problem. Conditioned by that unknown etiology, the available treatment for fibromyalgia is not curative. There are several treatments that have shown a beneficial effect on the evolution of the disease, such as patient education or psychotherapy, physical exercise and pharmacological treatment. Despite their variety, none of these treatments achieves a permanent and lasting improvement. This will lead to a constant search by these patients for alternative treatments that bring them new results. Currently, medical cannabis is one of those possible new treatments that has a certain illusion or hope as an alternative to these patients. We will proceed to analyze the current situation of fibromyalgia disease, as well as a systematic review of the evidence existing to date between fibromyalgia and cannabinoids.(AU)