To illustrate how confused even medical professionals are by the nonspecific language used to describe marijuana that has been legalized for medical use, come results of a survey of physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, psychologists, social workers, and registered nurses caring for children with cancer.
Conducted by researchers at Children’s Hospital Chicago, the survey defined “medical marijuana” as the marijuana plant and/or its extracts. It notes that synthesized THC, dronabinol, which is pure, whose dosage form is clear, and that has been approved by FDA, is routinely used in pediatric cancer care to control nausea and vomiting in children who do not respond to conventional medicines.
It divided participants into two categories: those eligible to certify patients to access marijuana for medical use and those not eligible to do so at three children’s hospitals in three states—Washington, Massachusetts, and Illinois—that have legalized the drug for medical use.
Questionnaires were sent to 654 pediatric care providers; 44 percent responded. A few were eliminated for incomplete responses, leaving 288 surveys that were analyzed. Of these, 33 percent of respondents were eligible to certify access–83 physicians in all three states plus 13 advance practitioners in Washington. The rest were ineligible to do so.
The latter “were more likely to convey approval of pediatric patients using medical marijuana in smoked or oral formulations, as cancer-directed therapy, or for symptom management, despite scarce evidence to corroborate this use. To place these findings in context, their attitudes echo those of the general public, whereas attitudes of providers eligible to provide access align more closely with physician-based data.”
Shockingly, only 5 percent of all respondents knew state-specific regulations governing marijuana legalized for medical use and about one-fourth did not know it is against federal law.
The researchers conclude “it is critical that providers who are routinely approached for access to MM [marijuana] possess baseline knowledge on regulations, known benefits, and harm.”
Read news release about this survey here.