Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA.
JCO Oncol Pract. 2022 Nov;18(11):e1787-e1795. doi: 10.1200/OP.22.00129. Epub 2022 Aug 15.
A growing body of scientific research indicates that oncology teams tend to offer individuals with cancer little clinical advice regarding medicinal cannabis (MC) and that individuals with cancer instead turn to cannabis dispensaries for MC guidance. Our objective was to investigate dispensary personnel's backgrounds and trainings in MC advising.
The study design was semistructured interviews across 13 states with cannabis dispensary personnel in managerial or client-facing positions. Of 38 recruited, 26 (68%) completed interview. The primary outcome was training in MC advising. Researchers targeted thematic saturation and adhered to Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research.
Of 26 participants, 54% were female, with an average age of 40 (range: 22-64) years. Half worked in client-facing roles; half worked in managerial ones. Study participants endorsed passionate commitment to their profession, often motivated by personal experience with MC therapeutics. Cannabis dispensaries often privileged sales skills over cannabis therapeutics knowledge when hiring, resulting in uneven baseline levels of cannabis therapeutics expertise among staff. Most participants reported workplace cannabis therapeutics training to be unstandardized and weak. They described dispensary personnel as resourceful in pursuing cannabis knowledge, self-financing learning in off-hours, sampling dispensary products, and exchanging knowledge. Nearly half the participants called for quality, standardized cannabis therapeutics training for dispensary personnel.
The many oncology teams who defer to dispensary personnel regarding MC advising rely on a workforce who views themselves as unevenly trained. Further research should include a national survey of cannabis dispensary personnel to learn whether these findings hold true in a larger sample. If so, the oncology community must determine the best approach to clinically advising individuals with cancer about MC.
越来越多的科学研究表明，肿瘤学团队往往很少就药用大麻（MC）向癌症患者提供临床建议，而癌症患者则转而向大麻药房寻求 MC 指导。我们的目的是调查药房人员在 MC 咨询方面的背景和培训情况。
该研究设计是在 13 个州对大麻药房的管理人员或面向客户的人员进行半结构式访谈。在招募的 38 人中，有 26 人（68%）完成了访谈。主要结果是在 MC 咨询方面的培训。研究人员以主题饱和度为目标，并遵守了定性研究报告的统一标准。
在 26 名参与者中，有 54%是女性，平均年龄为 40 岁（范围：22-64 岁）。一半人从事面向客户的工作；一半人从事管理工作。研究参与者对自己的职业充满热情和承诺，他们往往是受到 MC 治疗学的个人经验的激励。大麻药房在招聘时往往更看重销售技能，而不是大麻治疗学知识，导致员工的大麻治疗学知识水平参差不齐。大多数参与者报告说，工作场所的大麻治疗学培训缺乏标准化和薄弱。他们描述说，药房人员很有办法获取大麻知识，在业余时间自费学习，品尝药房产品，并交流知识。近一半的参与者呼吁为药房人员提供标准化、高质量的大麻治疗学培训。
许多将 MC 咨询工作转交给药房人员的肿瘤学团队依赖于一支自认为培训水平参差不齐的员工队伍。进一步的研究应该包括对大麻药房人员进行全国性调查，以了解这些发现是否在更大的样本中成立。如果是这样，肿瘤学社区必须确定向癌症患者提供 MC 临床建议的最佳方法。
