Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA.
Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2024 Aug;9(4):e1048-e1055. doi: 10.1089/can.2022.0324. Epub 2023 Apr 25.
Medical cannabis users tend not to trust or rely on health care providers regarding cannabis advice. Previous surveys of physicians have focused on favorability toward medical cannabis. The current study assesses how physicians interact with patients regarding cannabis in their day-to-day practice, and whether and how they address important topics such as use patterns and substituting cannabis for medications. We predicted that physicians would generally perceive cannabis dispensary staff and caretakers as not competent in addressing patient health needs and would not be likely to use their recommendations. Physicians in a university-affiliated health system completed an anonymous online survey. The survey assessed physicians' cannabis related education experiences, perceptions of their knowledge of and competence regarding medical cannabis, and the content of cannabis related discussions with patients. We also examined perceptions of the sources of influence on patients regarding cannabis and physicians' attitudes toward medical cannabis dispensary staff and medical cannabis caregivers (MCCs). A few physicians (10%) had ever signed a medical cannabis authorization form for their patients, consistent with their perceptions of low knowledge and competence in this area. Discussions on cannabis primarily focus on risks (63%) rather than dosage (6%) and harm reduction (25%). Physicians see their influence on patients as weak compared with other information sources and have generally unfavorable attitudes toward medical cannabis dispensary staff and MCCs. Greater integration of medical cannabis knowledge is needed at all levels of medical and clinical education to address the potential harm to patients if they receive no guidance. Continued research is needed to provide a strong scientific basis for developing treatment guidelines and standardized medical education for medical cannabis use.
医用大麻使用者往往不信任或依赖医疗保健提供者提供的有关大麻的建议。以前对医生的调查主要集中在对医用大麻的支持程度上。目前的研究评估了医生在日常实践中如何与患者就大麻进行互动，以及他们是否以及如何解决重要问题，如使用模式和用大麻替代药物。我们预测，医生通常会认为大麻药房工作人员和护理人员在解决患者健康需求方面能力不足，不太可能接受他们的建议。在一所大学附属医疗系统工作的医生完成了一项匿名在线调查。该调查评估了医生的大麻相关教育经验、他们对医用大麻的了解和能力的看法，以及与患者进行的大麻相关讨论的内容。我们还研究了影响患者对大麻看法的来源以及医生对医用大麻药房工作人员和医用大麻护理人员（MCCs）的态度。只有少数医生（10%）曾为患者签署过医用大麻授权书，这与他们在这方面知识和能力较低的看法一致。关于大麻的讨论主要集中在风险（63%）而不是剂量（6%）和减少伤害（25%）上。与其他信息来源相比，医生认为他们对患者的影响力较弱，对医用大麻药房工作人员和 MCCs 的态度普遍不佳。需要在医疗和临床教育的各个层面上加强医用大麻知识的整合，以避免患者在得不到指导的情况下受到伤害。需要继续研究，为制定治疗指南和标准化医用大麻使用的医学教育提供强有力的科学依据。
