Study Shows Most Physicians Lack Knowledge Of Medical Cannabis

[JOHN GALT]

A study of more than 400 health care professionals has revealed that most physicians lack knowledge of medicinal cannabis, with 65% saying that they have been asked about medical marijuana as a treatment for chronic pain but were unable to answer their patients’ questions.

The quantitative research study, which was commissioned by cannabis healthcare brand Cannaceutica, surveyed 445 physicians who treat chronic pain, including general practitioners and specialists in fields such as orthopedics, rheumatology, and sports medicine, about their knowledge of medical cannabis. Physicians who participated in the study had from two to 35 years of practice and were at least somewhat knowledgeable about medical cannabis and at least somewhat likely to recommend it to their patients with chronic pain, assuming medical marijuana was legally available.

Vast Majority Of Doctors Asked About Medical Cannabis​

An overwhelming majority (84%) of the health care providers surveyed said that their patients had requested or asked about cannabis for chronic pain, with 72% reporting that they had been asked in the previous 30 days. Dr. Daniele Piomelli, the director of the Institute for the Study of Cannabis at the University of California, Irvine and a member of the UCI Institutional Review Board that approved the research, said in a press release that the study “emphasizes both the public interest around cannabis as an analgesic and the lack of reliable data and/or medical education about its correct use.”

Study Shows Most Physicians Lack Knowledge Of Medical Cannabis

A study found that 65% of physicians and healthcare providers said that they were unable to answer patient questions around medical marijuana for the treatment for chronic pain.

www.forbes.com

 

[Robert-in-YEG]

Someone spent money to figure out that most general practitioners (GP's) lack knowledge of medical cannabis? I would think that most here could have answered that question.

Frustrations aside, GP's can't know everything. Here in Canada it generally takes a GP to refer to a specialist, who in turn, might have the expertise. Some doctors are excellent, most are good, but we also have some that struggle. Doctors are human, they get tired, they get stressed, and some just can't learn/adapt/cope quick enough to shine. That doesn't mean that they are bad doctors, rather that they are human. Sometimes good doctors get cornered into bad jobs/environments, and that doesn't go well. My point is that being a doctor is a tough job, and that they are human.

In my experience, GP's lack knowledge about addictions, mental health/suicide, and 'street' drugs. Unfortunately, they need to know about everything else too.

I don't know what the answers are, but the system we have isn't working very well.

Robert-in-YEG

 

[DillGaff]

Amen to that!