Purpose of Review There is not one answer to address whether marijuana use has increased, decreased, or stayed the same given changes in state legalization of medical and non-medical marijuana in the USA. Recent Findings Evidence suggests some health benefits for medical marijuana; however, initiation of marijuana use is a risk factor for developing problem cannabis use. Though use rates have...

For more than a decade, medical marijuana has been at the forefront of the marijuana policy debate in the United States. Fourteen states allow physicians to recommend marijuana or provide a legal defense for patients and physicians if prosecuted in state courts; however, little is known about those individuals using marijuana for medicinal purposes and the symptoms they use it for. This study p...

Marijuana has been documented to provide relief to patients in palliative care. However, healthcare providers should use caution when discussing medical marijuana use with patients. This article features a case study that reveals the complexity of medical marijuana use. For oncology nurses to offer high-quality care, examining the pros and cons of medical marijuana use in the palliative care se...

BACKGROUND The rise of authorized marijuana use in the U.S. means that many individuals are using cannabis as they concurrently engage in other forms of treatment, such as substance abuse counseling and psychotherapy. Clinical and legal decisions may be influenced by findings that suggest marijuana use during treatment serves as an obstacle to treatment success, compromises treatment integrity,...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study is to extend what is known about medical marijuana and non-medical marijuana users who visit the emergency department (ED) by exploring differences in their sociodemographic characteristics and their drug-related problem severity. METHODS Of 292 consecutively enrolled exclusive marijuana-only users visiting the ED for any reason, 37% (n = 10...

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have passed laws that allow individuals to use marijuana for medical purposes. In this paper, I use marijuana possession arrests to estimate the impact of medical marijuana laws on marijuana usage among non-patients over the period 1988–2008. I find that these laws increase marijuana arrests among adult males by about 20 percent. The effect is stron...

IMPORTANCE As of March 2015, 23 states and the District of Columbia had medical marijuana laws in place. Physicians should know both the scientific rationale and the practical implications for medical marijuana laws. OBJECTIVE To review the pharmacology, indications, and laws related to medical marijuana use. EVIDENCE REVIEW The medical literature on medical marijuana was reviewed from 1948...

Legalization of medical marijuana has been one of the most controversial areas of state policy change over the past twenty years. However, little is known about whether medical marijuana is being used clinically to any significant degree. Using data on all prescriptions filled by Medicare Part D enrollees from 2010 to 2013, we found that the use of prescription drugs for which marijuana could s...

Significant attention has been given to the debate regarding allowances for medical marijuana use since the 1996 California and Arizona ballot initiatives. State medical marijuana allowances, however, have existed since the mid-1970s. Much of the current debate stems from confusion about the various ways states approach the issue. In this paper, we present original legal research on current sta...