Self-reported medical use of marijuana: a survey of the general population.

© 2000 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors The issue of medical marijuana use has been on the forefront of public debate. There are indications that marijuana is sometimes used to alleviate pain from cancer, to reduce nausea from chemotherapy, to mitigate the wasting syndrome of AIDS, and for the treatment of glaucoma, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and a variety of other disorders. A few studies have suggested that the medical use of marijuana is common among people with HIV/AIDS and those with certain psychiatric conditions. However, there are no published surveys of such use among people with other conditions. We report results from the only general population survey known to have included questions about the medical use of marijuana. The survey involved telephone interviews with Ontario adults aged 18 years or more. Interviews were completed with 2508 people (67.4% of the 3723 households in which a household member answered the call). For this report we weighted the responses to account for differential selection related to regional stratification and household size. In the weighted sample 49 respondents (1.9%) reported using marijuana for a medical reason in the year preceding the survey (Table 1). A total of 173 other respondents (6.8%) reported using marijuana but not for medical reasons. (The corresponding numbers in the unweighted sample were 47 and 142.) The remaining 2305 respondents (91.2%) in the weighted sample reported no use of marijuana in the preceding year. The most frequently cited reason for using marijuana medically was for pain or nausea (41/49 [85%]). A variety of other uses were reported by a few respondents. Self-reported medical use of marijuana: a survey of the general population