Sydney, Australia: Patients with eating disorders such as anorexia frequently report using cannabis to improve their symptoms, according to survey data published in the Journal of Eating Disorders.
Australian researchers assessed cannabis use trends in an international sample of more than 5,300 respondents with eating-related disorders. Over half of the respondents acknowledged having used cannabis products within the past year, and over 40 percent reported daily use. Study participants most frequently reported using botanical cannabis preparations.
Respondents rated cannabis’ efficacy in the treatment of eating disorders as “superior to all prescription drugs.” Those who acknowledged inhaling cannabis flower daily reported the greatest improvements in their symptoms.
“Cannabis was commonly used among respondents and was one of the few drugs rated positively for ED [eating disorder] symptom improvement,” the study’s authors concluded. “To our knowledge, MED-FED [The MEDication and other drugs For Eating Disorders survey] is the first comprehensive study of prescription and non-prescription drug use among people with EDs. … The knowledge acquired from this naturalistic study can be utilized in the design and development of future clinical trials of THC and CBD-containing cannabis products in this population.”
Oral synthetic THC encapsulated in sesame seed oil, marketed as Marinol (dronabinol), is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of appetite loss in people with HIV/AIDS.
Full text of the study, “Cannabis use among people living with eating disorders,” appears in the Journal of Eating Disorders.