New Study Reveals Top Health Conditions Treated with Medical Marijuana
A recent study published by Leafwell, a platform for obtaining medical marijuana cards, has shed light on the most common health conditions that patients use medical marijuana to treat. The study analyzed data from over 81,000 medical marijuana patients across 32 states in the US and found that pain, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are the leading conditions that qualify patients for state medical cannabis programs.
The study found that 58.6% of patients reported having multiple medical conditions that they treat with marijuana. Among those with co-occurring conditions, anxiety and chronic pain were the most common, followed by insomnia, muscle spasms, and PTSD.
The researchers noted that the complexity of medical conditions among medical marijuana patients suggests that healthcare providers and policymakers need to consider how cannabis fits into broader healthcare strategies.
The study also found that men and women are roughly equally represented among medical marijuana patients, with 51.1% identifying as male and 48.9% identifying as female. The majority of patients, 71.5%, identified as white and non-Hispanic, followed by Black non-Hispanic patients (10.4%), Hispanic patients (8.4%), and patients of other races (7.1%).
The study’s findings align with previous research on who uses medical marijuana and why, but also suggest that the reasons for using marijuana may have changed over time. The addition of new qualifying conditions to state medical cannabis programs may have contributed to this shift.
The study’s implications for healthcare and policy include the importance of treatments tailored to individual patients, the growing role of cannabis in managing mental health, and the need for additional therapies for chronic pain.
Separate studies have found that legalization of medical marijuana across the US could save nearly $29 billion in healthcare costs and that enrollment in state-legal medical marijuana programs has increased significantly in recent years.
The study’s findings have important implications for healthcare providers, policymakers, and patients who are considering medical marijuana as a treatment option. As the use of medical marijuana continues to evolve, it is clear that this plant is making a meaningful difference in the lives of millions of Americans.
