Shore & Whāriki Research Centre, College of Health, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2023 Jan 4;23(1):10. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-09021-y.
Privately-owned cannabis clinics have sprung up in many jurisdictions where medicinal cannabis has been legalised and provide an alternative pathway for patients who are unable or unwilling to access a prescription for cannabis-based medicinal products from their usual healthcare providers.
This study aimed to explore physicians' views on cannabis clinics, including their perceptions of the role cannabis clinics play in the wider health system.
A qualitative study using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with thirty-one physicians affiliated with private and community clinics in New Zealand (including cannabis clinicians, GPs, and specialist doctors). The interviews were conducted from July to December 2021. Data were transcribed and analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
Cannabis clinicians positioned themselves as (1) "service providers", facilitating consumer access to cannabis prescriptions and products, and (2) "educators", providing advice to patients and the wider physician community. While general practitioners and specialists recognised the benefits of specialised cannabis clinics (i.e., knowledge of products and a non-judgmental environment), they questioned the limited evidence of clinical efficacy for cannabis, potential financial conflicts of interests of cannabis clinicians that may blur their clinical judgement, and the risk of compartmentalising patients' healthcare.
Our paper raises a number of challenges with attempting to integrate cannabis clinics into the wider health system.
在许多已经将医用大麻合法化的司法管辖区，私营大麻诊所如雨后春笋般涌现，为那些无法或不愿从常规医疗服务提供者那里获得大麻类药物处方的患者提供了另一种途径。
本研究旨在探讨医生对大麻诊所的看法，包括他们对大麻诊所在更广泛的卫生系统中所扮演角色的看法。
这是一项使用深度半结构化访谈的定性研究，共有 31 名来自新西兰私人和社区诊所的医生参与，包括大麻临床医生、全科医生和专科医生。访谈于 2021 年 7 月至 12 月进行。使用归纳主题分析对转录的数据进行分析。
大麻临床医生将自己定位为（1）“服务提供者”，为消费者获得大麻处方和产品提供便利，以及（2）“教育者”，为患者和更广泛的医生群体提供建议。虽然全科医生和专科医生认识到专门的大麻诊所的好处（即对产品的了解和非评判性的环境），但他们对大麻的临床疗效证据有限、大麻临床医生可能存在潜在的财务利益冲突，这可能会影响他们的临床判断，以及将患者的医疗保健割裂的风险提出了质疑。
我们的论文提出了一些在尝试将大麻诊所纳入更广泛的卫生系统时所面临的挑战。
