258453 Smoke and mirrors - who uses medical marijuana in California?

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Marta Induni, PhD , Survey Research Group, Public Health Institute, Sacramento, CA
Suzanne Ryan-Ibarra, MPH, MS , Survey Research Group, Public Health Institute, Sacramento, CA
Danielle Ewing, MPH , Public Health Institute, Survey Research Group, Sacramento, CA
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.

Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and prevention
Epidemiology
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
-Explain to peers and discuss how California medical marijuana policy differs from federal medical marijuana policy and how it relates to the health behavior of utilizing medical marijuana among adults in California. -Name 3 medical conditions that prior studies have shown that medical marijuana can alleviate or treat when conventional treatments are not effective. -Describe how medical marijuana users differ from those who do not use medical marijuana in California by age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income, and region of residence. If our data show no difference between users and non-users, attendees will be able to describe that no differences were observed.

Keywords: Surveillance, Public Health Policy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have graduate training in epidemiology and surveillance of health-related behaviors. I am the lead research scientist at Survey Research Group and led the analysis of the medical marijuana surveillance data.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.