Actually... not. At least for the first two items on the list (4-1 and 4-3), the evidence quoted did not support the strong conclusions.
For the chronic pain, for example, they based their conclusion on a meta-analysis of several studies which actually did not find any better pain relief than with opioids (which are not very effective; I know a physician who says that opioids do not work on chronic pain). And there were significant side-effects which would make their use problematic.
And again, the evidence for its use as an anti-emetic is also weak and problematic. The meta-analysis found that, at best, it is equivalent to anti-emetics that are already in use—but those don’t cause highs like marijuana does.
I suspect that the reports of efficacy of marijuana for so many conditions are not based on actual efficacy, but on the fact that people who are stoned probably aren’t paying much attention to their other problems.
Oh, and one effect of chronic marijuana use or a single high dose is to cause hyperemesis—not exactly a quality I’d look for in an anti-emetic.
When I am looking for evidence of efficacy or harm caused by a substance, I do not look at book reviews, especially those which base their conclusions on meta-analyses. Meta-analyses are extremely weak as evidence. The best evidence is collected through carefully controlled studies, and I look those up in PubMed.
Move those goalposts; you said you hadn't seen "any medical documentation of beneficial effects of any cannabinoid". Now you're backpedalling to not-better-than-other-medicines - and apparently implying that this is true for EVERY patient (because if it's not true for every patient, then the no-better-on-average medicine should be available for the sake of those patients for whom it works better).
The meta-analysis found that, at best, it is equivalent to anti-emetics that are already in use—but those don’t cause highs like marijuana does.
See above on no-better-on-average medicine.
I suspect
Your evidence-free suspicions are worth every penny I paid for them.
Oh, and one effect of chronic marijuana use or a single high dose is to cause hyperemesis—not exactly a quality I’d look for in an anti-emetic.
Marijuana-induced vomiting is rare: "With the large prevalence of marijuana use in the world, why does it appear that so few patients develop CHS?" [emphasis added]
- Galli, J. A., Sawaya, R. A., & Friedenberg, F. K. “Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome.” Current drug abuse reviews 4.4 (2011): 241–249 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3576702/)
When I am looking for evidence of efficacy or harm caused by a substance, I do not look at book reviews, especially those which base their conclusions on meta-analyses. Meta-analyses are extremely weak as evidence.
You're entitled to your opinion - but that's all it is, and evidently contrary to the opinions of the editors of the many journals in which meta-analyses are published.