{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,11]],"date-time":"2025-11-11T09:43:35Z","timestamp":1762854215355,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,10]],"date-time":"2025-11-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1762732800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: This study aims to assess differences in analgesia prescribing in UK primary care between individuals with osteoarthritis who have a recorded exposure to cannabis use and those who do not. Methods: This population-based retrospective cohort study included opioid-na\u00efve patients with osteoarthritis (aged 25\u201385 years) who were active in Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum between 1 January 1995 and 15 December 2023. Patients with osteoarthritis who had current or historic cannabis use recorded were matched to two unexposed individuals by age, sex, smoking status, and health authority. Patients were followed up to assess prescriptions of analgesia. Cox regression was performed adjusted for age, sex, and ethnicity. Results: 662 exposed patients were matched to 1319 unexposed patients. Cannabis-exposed individuals were more likely to be prescribed opioids (adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 2.06; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.74\u20132.43; p &lt; 0.001), gabapentinoids (HR: 3.31; 95% CI: 2.34\u20134.67; p &lt; 0.001), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (HR: 1.99; 95% CI: 1.72\u20132.31; p &lt; 0.001), tricyclic antidepressants (HR: 2.64; 95% CI: 2.03\u20133.44; p &lt; 0.001), other antidepressants (HR: 7.22; 95% CI: 5.24\u20139.94; p &lt; 0.001), and paracetamol (HR: 3.30; 95% CI: 2.43\u20134.48; p &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: This study suggests there is an association between coded exposure to cannabis in UK primary care records and increased prescribing of analgesia. Given the relative scarcity of recorded cannabis use relative to its prevalence in the general population, these findings must be interpreted cautiously. The increased hazard of using analgesia and mortality within the cannabis-exposed cohort may be confounded by socioeconomic status and a higher likelihood of coding cannabis use in those experiencing adverse effects after consumption or cannabis misuse disorder.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicines12040027","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,10]],"date-time":"2025-11-10T17:45:34Z","timestamp":1762796734000},"page":"27","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Cannabis Use and Analgesic Prescribing in UK Primary Care: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Patients with Osteoarthritis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5871-6501","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simon","family":"Erridge","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Cannabis Research Group, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London W12 0HS, UK"},{"name":"Curaleaf International, London W1W 7NY, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9561-5141","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joht Singh","family":"Chandan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK"},{"name":"National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK"},{"name":"Birmingham Health Partners, Solihull B90 4AA, UK"},{"name":"Dexter Software, 97 Vincent Drive, Birmingham B15 2SQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2167-9572","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Krishna M.","family":"Gokhale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK"},{"name":"National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-2437-7146","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christian","family":"Billinghurst","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dexter Software, 97 Vincent Drive, Birmingham B15 2SQ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mikael H.","family":"Sodergren","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Cannabis Research Group, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London W12 0HS, UK"},{"name":"Curaleaf International, London W1W 7NY, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"792","DOI":"10.1016\/j.joca.2020.03.004","article-title":"Trends in incidence and prevalence of osteoarthritis in the United Kingdom: Findings from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD)","volume":"28","author":"Swain","year":"2020","journal-title":"Osteoarthr. 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