Pharmacists in the African countries need to be aware of the increasing trend towards growing public recognition of medical cannabis as a pharmacotherapy option.  

This is the view of two Nigerian academics, Yusuff Adebauyo Adebisi and Damilola Quazeem Olaoye who recently published a paper, Medical Use of Cannabis in Africa: The Pharmacists’ Perspective.

In their abstract they write that despite cannabis being indigenous to many African countries, the legalization of cannabis for industrial, medical, and economic purposes has not been not uniform. African leaders have to date generally blinded themselves to the plant's medical benefits but this is likely to change as the medical cannabis revolution that is sweepng the world finally arrives on the continent.

Despite the lack of official support, there is a growing interest in Africa in cannabis use for medical purposes. The continent’s pharmacists should educate themselves on the benefits and harms of the plant as they will serve on the front-lines should cannabis be legalized and regulated in their jurisidictons.

They say of all the health professionals, pharmacists are probably best equipped to provide clinical advice and oversight in the safe management, production, and dispensing of medical cannabis on the continent. 

They argue that pharmacists in countries where medical cannabis has not been legalized, should engage patients’ medical and social histories and inquire about the use of illicit drugs, including the medical and recreational use of cannabis.

“Pharmacists should take up the active role to provide adequate unbiased information on the benefits and risks of cannabis use. This is important because the health-seeking behaviour of many patients make for self-medication and the possibilities of coming across the information on potential roles of medicinal cannabis in their ailment and this can facilitate abuse.

“Pharmacists need to have a broad knowledge of the risks and benefits of medical marijuana and take the active role in health promotion and enlightenment of the general public

The authors point out that the medicinal benefits of cannabis cannot be underrated. This ranges from its potential use in managing Parkinson’s diseases, opioid addiction, sleep problems, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Tourette Syndrome, acute and chronic pains to gastrointestinal disorders, among other conditions.

However, they say medical cannabis knowledge in Africa is limited by the amount of available clinical trial data.

“Clinicians worldwide are also worried about the addiction potential and other adverse effects that cannabis can cause” they write, “But there is also a growing interest on cannabis use for medical purposes in Africa.” 

They say that “medicinal cannabis has also been proven to have greater efficacy in some disease conditions than the present medicinal agents use in their management and has been suggested as an alternative therapy for these diseases.

“ Although most countries around the world, including some African countries, have a restriction on the recreational and medicinal use of cannabis, there are emergent facts on the safety and efficacy of medicinal cannabis in pharmacotherapy.

“With the increasing role of pharmacists in public health, the roles of pharmacists in the successful use and access to medical marijuana is therefore important.”

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