American Academy of Ophthalmology
Marijuana Policy Statements

Finding - The American Academy of Ophthalmology Committee on Drugs presently finds no scientifically verifiable evidence that the use of marijuana is safe and effective in the treatment of glaucoma.

Evaluation - There is evidence that marijuana (or its components), taken orally or by inhalation, can lower intraocular pressure. However, there are no conclusive studies to date to indicate that marijuana (or its components) can safely and effectively lower intraocular pressure enough to prevent optic nerve damage.

Although there is no current useful literature on the subject, general medical literature on marijuana published in the 1970's indicates that the risk/benefit ratio for marijuana use in the treatment of diseases may be high due to the multiplicity of side effects generated by long-term oral use and by long-term inhalation of smoke. The only published data on the use of marijuana in short-term clinical studies for one month or less.

The dose of marijuana necessary to produce a clinically relevant effect in the short term appears to produce an unacceptable level of undesirable side effects such as euphoria, systemic hypotension, and/or dry eye and conjunctival hyperemia in the majority of glaucoma patients in whom the drug has been carefully studied. No data have been published on studies of long-term ocular and systemic effects of the use of marijuana by glaucoma patients. However it would be anticipated that the side effects from the use of marijuana would be comparable to those side effects reported in studies of non-glaucomatous patients.

Short term studies have identified certain positive (the fall in intraocular pressure) and negative (as listed above) factors associated with marijuana use glaucoma patients. However, because glaucoma is a chronic disease, requiring ongoing therapy, in assessing the efficacy of the use of marijuana in treating glaucoma, one must have data from long-term studies of the ocular side effects of marijuana.

Further Study - Because the possibility exists that marijuana (or its components) may be useful in treating glaucoma, the American Academy of Ophthalmology Committee on Drugs believes that a long-term clinical study, designed to test the safety and efficacy of marijuana in the prevention of progressive optic nerve damage and consequent visual field loss, appears inappropriate.