The UK Medical Cannabis Registry Reaches 50 Peer-Reviewed Research Papers

We have some exciting news to share. Research from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry has now been published in 50 peer-reviewed papers in medical journals.

This milestone belongs to our patients. More than 55,000 people have chosen to share how they are getting on during treatment. Many have done so repeatedly, often over months and years. Every update helps researchers learn something new. Just as importantly, it helps our doctors make more informed prescribing decisions for the patients they see today.

So what does “peer-reviewed” actually mean? And why does this kind of research matter? Below, we explain both in plain, simple terms.

A message from Dr Simon Erridge

“Reaching 50 peer-reviewed papers is a milestone that belongs to our patients. Every questionnaire they complete adds to what we know about cannabis-based medicines in the UK. Real-world evidence cannot replace clinical trials, but it can help us ask better questions and design better studies. I am hugely grateful to everyone who has chosen to take part.”

Dr Simon Erridge, Director of Research, Curaleaf Clinic

What is the UK Medical Cannabis Registry?

The UK Medical Cannabis Registry is a long-term research project. It keeps a careful record of how patients are getting on during their treatment.

It started with a gap. When cannabis-based medicines first became available on prescription from UK specialists in late 2018, there was very little research to guide them. Curaleaf Clinic launched the Registry the following year to start building that knowledge, one patient at a time.

How does the Registry work?

• Patients share how they are doing. Short questionnaires ask about things like pain, sleep, mood and everyday life. Patients answer them before treatment starts, then regularly throughout their care. For some, that means checking in for years.
• Doctors keep notes. They record which medicine was prescribed and any side effects. (A side effect is something unwanted a medicine might cause, like feeling sleepy.)
• Names stay private. Details that could identify someone are removed before researchers look at anything.

Taking part is always the patient’s choice. Every person who says yes makes the picture a little clearer for everyone.

What is a peer-reviewed research paper?

A peer-reviewed paper is research that other experts have checked, questioned and approved before it is published.

“Peers” are people who do the same kind of work. In medicine, they are other doctors and scientists. They were not part of the study, so they look at it with fresh eyes.

Imagine baking a cake for a competition. Before it wins a ribbon, a panel of judges tastes it, checks the recipe and asks how you made it. If something is not right, they send you back to the kitchen. Peer review is a lot like that, just with fewer cakes.

How does research get published?

Getting a paper published is a journey. Here are the main steps:

1. Ask a question. For example: how does sleep change for people during treatment?
2. Get the go-ahead. The study plan is checked to make sure it is safe and fair for patients.
3. Look for patterns. Researchers study the answers patients have shared, using maths to spot what stands out.
4. Write it up. They explain what they did, what they found, and what their study cannot tell us.
5. Send it to a journal. A journal is like a magazine for researchers. An editor decides if the paper is worth a closer look.
6. Peer review. Usually two or more experts read it carefully. They ask tough questions and point out problems.
7. Fix and try again. Researchers answer every question and make changes. This can happen more than once.
8. Published! Only when the experts are happy does the paper go out into the world. Many papers never make it this far.

The whole journey can take months, sometimes more than a year. So reaching 50 papers means our research team has made that journey 50 times. That is worth celebrating.

What has the UK Medical Cannabis Registry researched?

Over the past seven years, the Registry’s 50 papers have explored lots of different questions, including:

• how people’s pain, sleep, mood and daily life change over time
• the experiences of people living with long-term (chronic) pain
• the experiences of people living with anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions
• which side effects happen, and how often
• how doctors prescribe, and how that has changed

Some papers follow people for a few months. Others follow them for years. Each one adds to what we know.

Curious to read them? You can find the published papers on our real-world evidence page.

What is the difference between clinical trials and real-world evidence?

There are two main ways to learn about a medicine. They answer different questions, and the strongest evidence comes from using both.

Clinical trials

In a clinical trial, people are put into groups by chance. One group gets the medicine. The other gets a placebo, which looks the same but has no medicine in it.

Usually nobody knows who is in which group until the end, not even the doctors. That makes it a really fair test, which is why trials are called the “gold standard”.

But trials have limits too. They often:

• include only a few hundred people
• last weeks or months, rather than years
• don’t always include people with more complex health needs

Real-world evidence

Real-world evidence shows what happens in everyday life, when real patients are cared for by their own doctors.

That is exactly what the Registry collects. It includes many thousands of people. It can follow them for years. And it reflects the full range of people seen in clinic, including many of our patients who are managing more than one condition.

What can’t real-world evidence tell us?

It is important to be clear about what real-world evidence can and cannot show. On its own, it cannot prove that a medicine works.

Here is an example. Imagine someone starts treatment in spring and reports sleeping better by summer. The medicine might have played a part. But so might lighter evenings, a new routine, or simply hoping that something will help. Without a comparison group, researchers cannot tell these apart.

There is a second challenge: who keeps reporting. If someone stops treatment, they may also stop checking in. Their experience then drops out of the figures, which can tilt the overall results in a positive direction.

That is why every Registry paper sets out its limitations clearly. Findings are treated as questions for future research to answer, rather than final conclusions.

Why does real-world evidence matter?

Having limits does not make something less valuable. Real-world evidence is not meant to replace trials. It fills in parts of the picture that trials cannot reach on their own.

The Registry plays a part at every stage, from the clinic today to the research of tomorrow:

• In the clinic, right now. What we learn feeds straight back into care. It helps our doctors make more informed prescribing decisions, such as which side effects to look out for and how closely to follow someone up.
• Before a trial. Large trials cost a lot and take years. Registry findings help researchers decide where that effort is best spent, and what a good trial should look like: who should take part, what should be tested, and what safety checks are needed.
• Picking up the uncommon. Some side effects are rare. A record covering tens of thousands of people is far more likely to notice them than a study of a few hundred.
• Seeing the bigger timeline. Registry data can stretch well beyond the length of a typical trial, showing how people get on over several years.
• After a trial. Once a trial is published, registry data can show whether its findings match what doctors see day to day.

Fifty peer-reviewed papers, built on the experiences of more than 55,000 patients, can help shape the clinical trials of the future.

A big thank you

This milestone belongs to everyone who made it happen: our researchers, our doctors and, most of all, our patients.

Checking in month after month, year after year, takes real commitment, and we don’t take it for granted. It helps doctors and researchers understand more, for patients today and for those who come after them. Together, more than 55,000 patients have helped build a large and growing body of real-world information on medical cannabis in the UK.

What happens next?

Fifty papers is a wonderful milestone, but it is really just the beginning.

There is still lots to learn. We would love to see more well-designed clinical trials in the UK, and the Registry can help plan them. As it keeps growing, it will be able to explore more detailed questions and point future studies in the right direction.

We can’t wait to share what we learn next. Thank you to everyone who has been part of it.

If you are a Curaleaf Clinic patient and want to know more about the Registry, please speak to your clinical team.

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