Salisbury, United Kingdom: One out of six Britons who use medicinal cannabis do so at the advice of their physician, according to survey data published this month in the International Journal of Clinical Practice.
Sixteen percent of respondents said that they use medical cannabis at the suggestion of their physician, while 62 percent responded that a friend or family member had recommended it. Approximately 950 Britons responded to the questionnaire, which authors called “the most extensive survey of medicinal cannabis use among chronically ill patients” ever conducted.
Respondents were most likely to report using cannabis to treat symptoms of chronic pain, Multiple Sclerosis, or neuropathy. Ninety-five percent of patients said they had obtained some therapeutic benefit from cannabis, with just under half reporting that it provided greater relief than their prescribed medications. Nearly 80 percent of respondents said that their symptoms returned or became worse when they ceased using cannabis therapeutically.
“The results of our UK survey, including the extent of use and reported effects, lend support to the further development of safe and effective medicines based on cannabis,” said the study’s lead author, Mark Ware of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Canada. “[T]hese data … point to the need for clinical studies of cannabis and cannabinoids with standardized and quality-controlled products.”
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, “The medicinal use of cannabis in the UK: results of a nationwide survey,” appears in the March issue of the International Journal of Clinical Practice.