2. Paving the Way for Improved Data Collection on Cannabis Use

As recreational and medicinal use of cannabis continue to increase in the United States and around the world, it is vital that efforts be made to harmonize data collection. Challenges include the increasing diversity of cannabis products in terms of their constituents, potency (percent THC), and ways they are used, as well as reasons for using them, including possible medical indications (or believed indications). Ultimately, determining efficacy, dosing, side effects, and risks of cannabis and cannabinoids will require time-consuming clinical trials. Meanwhile, cannabis use is not tracked in medical record-keeping, and people who use it medicinally generally do so outside the healthcare system. Consequently, information on who is using what products, for what conditions, and with what outcomes is scarce, nor do we yet know how cannabis interacts with medications or other substances.

To facilitate information gathering and the needed science, standardized measurements of cannabis exposure are needed, and that must include measures that can capture medical use. Key findings NIDA now requires grantees to use standard units of THC (5 mg) to quantify THC exposure, and other NIH Institutes have implemented similar requirements.

Adoption of the THC standard unit and the International Cannabis Toolkit (iCann Toolkit) will facilitate more accurately measurement of exposure and enable researchers to design experiments on cannabis effects with real-world relevance, as well as measuring clinical outcomes in a way that could better inform clinical practice and policy.