Smoke and mirrors - who uses medical marijuana in California?

Background: The United States Drug Enforcement Agency classifies marijuana as an illegal substance, yet in16 states, marijuana is legal for medicinal use. Research has shown that marijuana is beneficial for improving quality of life for those with serious medical conditions such as chronic pain, arthritis, and cancer. In 1996, California legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, but population-based data describing medical marijuana users in the state does not exist. Objectives: To examine the demographic and socioeconomic differences between users and non-users of medical marijuana in California. Methods: We will be using preliminary data from the California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2012, an annual statewide telephone survey that collects health data from a representative adult sample. Results: Because the survey was only recently fielded, the authors cannot comment on actual results. By October, the authors expect sufficient data to describe medical marijuana use in California according to gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, income, and region of residence (expected n of 375 users and 7,000 non-users). To date, five percent of respondents indicated they ever used medical marijuana (users n=43, non-users n=899, refused n=4), and 37 of those who have used indicated that it helped their serious medical condition. Conclusion: As marijuana becomes a more accepted way to alleviate or treat serious medical conditions, the legal debate continues between state and federal medical marijuana policy. The onus is on researchers and clinicians to better understand users of medical marijuana and the potential benefits and risks of use.