A marijuana leaf.
(photo credit:REUTERS)
The first study on the characteristics of
patients with Health Ministry permission for treatment with medical
marijuana – until now an unknown field – was revealed on Wednesday at
the Sixth International Jerusalem Conference on Health Policy.
The conference was organized by the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research.
The
study was led by Prof. Pesach Shvartzman of Ben-Gurion University of
the Negev’s Health Sciences Faculty, who said even though medical
cannabis has been legal for a decade and is licensed to more than
20,000 patients for relieving pain and other symptoms, “there has been
no information about the users themselves.”
Shvartzman concluded that most users enjoy significant
improvement in pain and function, but that the cannabis also caused
side effects.
The study, carried out to observe new patients
using the drug for two years, looked at their socioeconomic
characteristics, disease profiles, the medical indication for use,
dosages, treatment given to the patient before giving cannabis,
treatment safety, side effects, response and effectiveness of treatment
and the patient’s use of health services during the year prior to and
the year following treatment.
The patients were observed at three pain clinics and were interviewed
by phone during the first three months of their treatment and then
every four months for two years.
Of 321 non-cancer patients, 47.4 percent were male and the rest female. Of the 78 cancer patients, 60% were male.
The mean age of the non-cancer patients was 50.1 years and of cancer patients 57.5 years.
Of the cancer patients, 47% of the non-cancer and 40% of the cancer patients were native Israelis.
A total of 53.8% of the cancer patients and 56.9 of the cancer patients were secular.
Forty
percent of the non-cancer patients and 49.3% of the cancer patients
were employed. Of the non-cancer patients, 30.4% and 47.9% of the
cancer patients had an academic education. Of the non-cancer patients,
56.7% were married, compared to 65.3% of the cancer patients.
Some
42% of all the patients had received recommendations for medical
cannabis from their doctors, while only 24% from a friend or family
member.
The prescriptions for the drug were most commonly given
by palliative medicine specialists, orthopedists, and other specialists
and only a tiny minority (0.4%) from the family physician.
Fully 99.6% applied for marijuana supplies after taking conventional medications that were not effective.
Nearly 56% said they wanted it because the previous drugs caused side effects.
Three-quarters of patients smoked the marijuana, while nearly 21% used concentrations in oil and the rest via vaporization.
More
than 77% suffered from side effects; the moist frequent were dry mouth
(60.6%); hunger (60%); 44% high moods; 23% sleepiness; 28.6% fatigue;
32% red eyes; and 13% blurred vision.
Most of the users reported
in later interviews that their pain, nausea, anxiety, appetite and
general feeling had improved. Fewer than one in 10 stopped taking the
drug after the first interview and 6% after the second interview because
of side effects and because the treatment was not effective.
Meanwhile,
the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has just
reported on a study of adolescents’ use of non-medical marijuana in the
US, which indicated that the number of teens with marijuana-related
problems is declining. Similarly, the rates of marijuana use by young
people are falling despite the fact more US states are legalizing or
decriminalizing marijuana use and the number of adults using the drug
has increased.
The researchers examined data on drug use
collected from young people aged 12 to 17 over a 12-year span. They
found that the number of adolescents who had problems related to
marijuana – such as becoming dependent on the drug or having trouble in
school and in relationships – declined by 24% from 2002 to 2013.
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