Although most states now allow medical marijuana treatment, new research found that its use has increased sharply over the past decade.
the study, According to a paper published this month in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, “The prevalence of medical cannabis use among U.S. residents increased from 1.2% in 2013-2014 to 1.2% in 2019-2020. It increased significantly to 2.5% in 2016. [average annual percentage] 12.9% of “
The authors further state that “many sociodemographic and clinical subgroups showed similarly large increases in medical cannabis use.”
“We live in a state where legalized medical cannabis is significantly associated with medical cannabis use in a multivariate-adjusted model,” the study’s authors wrote. “This study shows that from 2013 to 2020, the use of cannabis for various medical purposes continues to rise nationwide, a trend that has continued since the first states passed legalization laws. 20 years later.”
As the study’s authors noted, “the use of cannabis for medical purposes is legal in 39 US states and the District of Columbia.”
California became the first state to legalize the treatment in 1996, and in the nearly three decades since, medical cannabis has been adopted in more states and crossed partisan lines.
Last year, Mississippi became the latest to legalize medical cannabis treatment when Republican Governor Tate Reeves signed the bill into law.
Over the past decade, more than 20 states (and the District of Columbia) have gone one step further and legalized recreational cannabis for adults.
These policy changes served as the backdrop for a study published this month whose authors said, “The aim was . . . to assess temporal trends and correlations in medical cannabis use in the United States.” I’m here.
“Since 2013, medical cannabis use has been assessed using a dichotomous question asking whether medical cannabis use was recommended by a physician among those who used cannabis in the past 12 months. A modified Poisson model was used to estimate the average annual rate of change (AAPC) in medical cannabis use from 2013 to 2020. The analysis was based on key sociodemographic and clinical data. Data were analyzed from September to November 2022.”
The authors state that ‘we used data from’. [the] 2013-2020 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).
Eligibility requirements for medical cannabis vary by state, but it is known to be a particularly effective treatment for patients suffering from chronic pain and may serve as a safer alternative to highly addictive prescription opioids.
A new study in the UK this month found a link between medical cannabis and improved health-related quality of life for patients suffering from chronic conditions.
The study’s authors said their study “suggests that. [cannabis-based medicinal products] associated with improved health-related quality of life in chronically ill patients in the UK”, “Although most participants tolerated well, adverse events were more common in women and cannabis-naive patients. rice field”.
“This observational study [cannabis-based medicinal products] Related to general improvements [health-related quality of life]and sleep- and anxiety-specific symptoms up to 12 months in chronically ill patients … although most patients tolerated treatment well, [adverse events] should be considered before starting [cannabis-based medicinal products]’” wrote the researchers in their conclusion.
“Women and cannabis-naive patients in particular are more likely to experience adverse events. These findings may help inform current clinical practice, but most importantly, This highlights the need for further clinical trials to identify causality and develop guidelines for optimizing treatment. [cannabis-based medicinal products]”