OCTOBER 31, 2024
People with chronic pain are more supportive of expanding access to medical cannabis than physicians; however, a majority of both patients and physicians support steps toward increasing access to medical marijuana, according to recently published findings.
“While evidence on the safety and effectiveness of cannabis for chronic pain treatment is still emerging, we found there is a high level of interest among both patients and physicians in increasing training for providers on cannabis as a
People with chronic pain are more supportive of expanding access to medical cannabis than physicians; however, a majority of both patients and physicians support steps toward increasing access to medical marijuana, according to recently published findings.
“While evidence on the safety and effectiveness of cannabis for chronic pain treatment is still emerging, we found there is a high level of interest among both patients and physicians in increasing training for providers on cannabis as a treatment option for chronic pain,” explained study author Elizabeth Stone, PhD, MSPH, an instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, N.J.
The study included a survey of 661 people living with chronic pain (mean age, 52.3 years; 53.4% women; 3.0% Asian, 11.3% Black, 16.8% Hispanic or Latino, 66.2% white) and 1,000 physicians (mean age, 51.9 years; 63.0% women; 23.1% Asian, 6.3% Black, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 63.2% white) (JAMA Netw Open 2024;7[9]:e2435843). Participants with chronic pain supported four policies expanding access to cannabis more strongly than surveyed physicians:
1. federal legalization of medical cannabis (70.8% vs. 59.0%; P<0.001);
2. federal legalization of medical cannabis for adult use (54.9% vs. 38.0%; P<0.001);
3. requiring insurance coverage of medical cannabis for chronic pain treatment (64.0% vs. 50.6%; P<0.001); and
4. requiring states with medical cannabis programs to provide subsidies for people with low income (50.1% vs. 30.6%; P<0.001).
The researchers also found people with chronic pain showed less support for requiring patient registration with state medical cannabis programs to access medical cannabis compared with surveyed physicians (49.2% vs. 68.1%; P<0.001).
“Given the limited evidence on the effectiveness of cannabis for treating various conditions, including chronic pain, I was surprised that a majority of physicians (nearly 60%) supported federal legalization of cannabis for medical use,” Stone told Pain Medicine News.
Despite surveyed doctors and patients supporting federal legalization of medical marijuana, cannabis use currently remains federally illegal.
—Myles Starr
Stone reported no relevant financial disclosures.
