The N.H.G. smells a little of lobby
The Dutch College of General Practitioners advises against prescribing medicinal cannabis for pain. A short look at that advice — and what's drifting around it.
The N.H.G. (Nederlands Huisartsen Genootschap — the Dutch College of General Practitioners) has advised against prescribing medicinal cannabis for pain relief, with the exception of palliative pain relief. The N.H.G. received a lot of pushback on that position and issued a clarification. Their clarification reads, in part:
The question of whether cannabis works for pain we have answered by means of a scientific literature review. The little research that has appeared so far shows no clinically relevant effects. Moreover, the quality of the evidence is low and it is often indirect evidence, because most studies used forms of cannabinoids other than those available in the Netherlands.
I wonder whether the N.H.G. uses the same search techniques as the average Dutch person, because Google — in my own search for scientific evidence on cannabis for pain relief — turns up an enormous list of studies. Granted, that list is a mix of serious, scientifically and clinically grounded research and vague esoteric alternative pieces, but a lot of research clearly has been done. Plenty of information exists on cannabis for pain relief — scientific, folkloric, and outright invented.
Also striking: there are, apparently, forms of cannabinoids that are not available in the Netherlands. The plant contains more than 500 different compounds. About a hundred of those belong to the cannabinoid group. These cannabinoids are only found in the hemp plant. Another form of cannabinoid? I’m not sure what they mean…
It smells a little of lobby.