Cannabis for endometriosis-related pain and symptoms : it's high time that we see this as a legitimate treatment

Endometriosis is an oestrogen-dependent, chronic inflammatory condition characterised by the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside of the uterus. In Australia, 11% of women and those assigned female at birth have a diagnosis of endometriosis by the age of 44 years.1 Endometriosis-related chronic pelvic pain includes a variety of symptoms such as dysmenorrhoea, dyspareunia, fatigue, dyschezia, and dysuria. Endometriosis places significant burden on patients, their families, and society as a whole. The cost of illness burden in Australia is $30 000 per woman per year, or $9.7B in total, with most costs being due to lost productivity, 2 with pain severity being the most significant modifiable factor. A modest reduction in pain of just 20% would save approximately $9000 per woman per year,2 in addition to improvements in health-related quality of life. Therefore, effective pain management strategies are vital to reduce economic disease burden and improve quality of life.