According to a recent Canadian study, people with cancer are now using moremedical cannabidiol than in previous years.
One-third of Canadian cancer patients use cannabis
According to this study, one-third of Canadian cancer patients currently use cannabis.
Titled “Cannabis Use Among Canadian Adults with Cancer (2007–2016): Results of a National Survey,” this research report was published online by the scientific journal *Expert Reviews in Pharmacoeconomics & Outcome Research*.
In fact, Omar Abdel-Rahman, a researcher at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, reviewed and analyzed data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). This survey is conducted approximately every two years to gather as much information as possible about the health status and health care utilization of the entire Canadian population.
Among the participants in the latest ESCC study, 4,667 reported having cancer, and more than one-third of these patients reported using cannabis in 2016. Omar Abdel-Rahman thus observed that as the study progressed over the years, the rate ofcannabis use among cancer patients changed. The study also revealed that cannabis use could vary depending on a number of demographic factors.
Cannabis Use on the Rise
In his study, Abdel-Rahman notes that, in general, cannabis use is associated with being young, male, and white, as well as being single and having a comfortable income.
In the first study, conducted from 2007 to 2008, the rate of cannabis use initially stood at 27.7 percent, but this figure gradually increased. It reached 34.4 percent in the most recent study, which took place from 2015 to 2016.
It should be noted, however, that the use of medical cannabis (prescribed by a doctor) has been permitted in Canada since 2001, and that its recreational use within a regulated framework has been legal since 2018.
A trend that also applies to American patients
NORM (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) pointed out that fairly similar results had been observed in Michigan, as a previous study had indicated that one-quarter of cancer patients also reported using medical cannabis. According to the researchers who participated in this study, “the vast majority of patients believe that using MC [medical cannabis] led to an improvement in the assessed symptoms, particularly pain, loss of appetite, and anxiety.”
As part of this study, a team of researchers from Beaumont Hospital surveyed a total of 188 cancer patients to learn more about their use of medical cannabis and CBD. This research took place in 2018, after cannabis had been legalized in Michigan but before recreational cannabis sales were authorized a year later. At the conclusion of the study, the scientists found that 25% of cancer patients reported regularly using medical cannabis and CBD-based products.
