Alberta, Canada: Over one-third of Canadian cancer patients report using cannabis, according to survey data published in the journal Expert Reviews in Pharmacoeconomics & Outcome Research.
A researcher affiliated with the University of Alberta surveyed cancer patients regarding their attitudes toward cannabis. Thirty-four percent of respondents reported using medical cannabis in 2016 – an increase of nearly seven percentage points since 2007.
Canadian physicians have been able to prescribe medical cannabis products to patients since 2001. Lawmakers legalized the production and retail distribution of marijuana to adults in 2018.
The study’s author concluded: “Within this study cohort of Canadian adults with current cancer diagnosis, cannabis use is not uncommon. A history of cannabis use is associated with younger age, male sex, white race, non-married status, and higher income.”
Prior survey data has estimated that as many as 25 percent of cancer patients residing in the United States use cannabis, with nearly ten percent of elderly cancer patients doing so.
Full text of the study, “Cannabis use among Canadian adults with cancer (2007-2016): results from a national survey,” appears in Expert Reviews in Pharmacoeconomics & Outcome Research.