{"id":77703,"date":"2024-09-03T11:37:48","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T19:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/09\/03\/younger-patients-are-using-medical-marijuana-for-anxiety-ptsd-and-chronic-pain-study-shows\/"},"modified":"2024-09-04T19:46:13","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T03:46:13","slug":"younger-patients-are-using-medical-marijuana-for-anxiety-ptsd-and-chronic-pain-study-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/09\/03\/younger-patients-are-using-medical-marijuana-for-anxiety-ptsd-and-chronic-pain-study-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"Younger Patients Are Using Medical Marijuana For Anxiety, PTSD And Chronic Pain, Study Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

A new study examining medical marijuana patients in the U.S. who are under the age of 21 finds that minors and young adults typically qualify for state cannabis programs for many of the same reasons that older adults do, including anxiety, PTSD and chronic pain.<\/p>\n

Those three qualifying conditions were the most commonly cited by young cannabis patients as the primary condition allowing them to legally access medical marijuana, according to the research, which was published last month in the journal Adolescent Heath, Medicine and Therapeutics. Other common conditions included insomnia and depression.<\/p>\n

Among minor patients\u2014those under 18\u2014cancer and epilepsy were more common reasons for obtaining a medical marijuana recommendation than they were among young adults, ages 18 to 20. Patients in the older age group, meanwhile, were comparatively more likely to cite depression, chronic pain or insomnia as their primary qualifying condition.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe found that there is a significant number of medical cannabis users aged 20 or younger, with variations in demographics and conditions between minors (under 18) and young adults (18-20).\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Qualifications also varied by state. \u201cNotably, anxiety was the most frequently self-reported medical condition across several states, including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania,\u201d the study notes. \u201cChronic pain emerged as the primary self-reported condition for Michigan, Montana, Ohio, and Illinois.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authors, from the health sciences department at DePaul University in Chicago, noted that while the dataset \u201cdoes not encompass the entire population of medical cannabis users in the United States,\u201d it nevertheless \u201crepresents an initial step toward understanding the demographics and medical conditions of pediatric medical cannabis patients and the reasons for their medical use.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the data for the study was self-reported\u2014coming from the patient database at Leafwell, a telehealth company that connects patients with doctors who recommend medical marijuana\u2014authors wrote that the research \u201crepresents the largest cohort of pediatric medical cannabis users in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leafwell operates in 34 states, the study says, helping patients obtain marijuana cards. As part of that service, clients fill out a baseline questionnaire, which goes into the company\u2019s patient database.<\/p>\n

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\"🚨\" Leafwell’s new study on patients under 21 is out! Key insights: minors: ~1% of patients (5.7% of sample); 94.3% are 18-20, states with most minors: CA, OH, OR; highest rates: ME, OR, NH, conditions: anxiety, chronic pain, nausea\/vomiting. Read here: https:\/\/t.co\/eyZ6ZBBaCH<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/6merkuNXYn<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Leafwell (@_Leafwell_) July 26, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The research team analyzed 13,855 patient records of people under 21, which spanned a period from 2019 to mid-2023. Of those patients, 5.7 percent were under 18 years old (referred to in the study as \u201cminors\u201d) and 94.3 percent were 18 through 20 (referred to as \u201cyoung adults\u201d).<\/p>\n

Most patients reported having multiple health conditions\u2014only 40.25 percent of minors and 31.61 percent of young adults had a single condition. On average, members of each group had a little more than two conditions.<\/p>\n

The goal of the study was to provide \u201ca population-level description of pediatric and young adult medical cannabis patients from a large patient database in the United States,\u201d it says, in order \u201cto help develop better and more comprehensive regulatory frameworks and safety guidelines, to improve patient care, and to provide researchers with a potential pool of participants for further clinical studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emily Fisher, CEO of Leafwell, the company that provided data for the new research, said the report \u201cshines a light on a traditionally under-researched group of young medical cannabis patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe findings reveal that many young people are using cannabis to manage conditions such as anxiety and chronic pain,\u201d Fisher said in a press release. \u201cUnderstanding this patient group and how cannabis is being used as a medicine is essential for developing safe and effective treatment protocols. This study represents a significant step forward in advancing our knowledge and ensuring that the unique needs of younger patients are met with thoughtful and precise care.\u201d<\/p>\n

June Chin, a doctor and professor as well as the chief medical officer at Leafwell, said the study \u201cshows that it is crucial to understand the emotional, social, and psychological reasons why teens and young adults might turn to cannabis, especially as a way to cope with stress or mental health challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI advocate for having open, non-judgmental conversations with teens and young adults, and providing them with the guidance they need to make informed decisions about cannabis use,\u201d she said in Leafwell\u2019s press release about the new report. \u201cAdditionally, I emphasize the importance of a balanced, evidence-based approach when considering medical cannabis for younger populations, while also addressing the root causes behind its use.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authors of the study said the findings underscore the need for further research into young people and medical marijuana, calling for \u201cadditional clinical studies to understand the role of medical cannabis in addressing symptoms and improving the quality of life for conditions such as chronic pain, anxiety, and PTSD in the pediatric population.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also noted that while in 2017 the \u201cNational Academies of Science did conclude substantial evidence supporting the use of medical cannabis for chronic pain and limited evidence for PTSD and anxiety,\u201d those findings were \u201cspecific to the adult population.\u201d<\/p>\n

But they acknowledged that including minors and younger adults in trials remains an obstacle for clinical researchers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere remains a lack of pediatric specific evidence supporting the efficacy of medical cannabis in treating anxiety, chronic pain, and PTSD,\u201d they wrote, adding that the lack of evidence \u201cis largely explained by the difficulty of including pediatric patients in clinical cohorts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team says the lack of pediatric-specific evidence \u201cmay necessitate a two-pronged approach toward comprehending the utilization of medical cannabis among young adults.\u201d First, clinical studies should aim to establish efficacy of treatments as well as \u201cto provide information on adverse events, the preferable route of administration (eg, edible cannabis vs whole plant cannabis), and dosage specifics in the pediatric population.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, authors wrote, \u201cresearch utilizing population-level self-reported patient databases should integrate electronic health information.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis integration will enable the utilization of real-world data on a larger scale to address some of the aforementioned questions,\u201d the study<\/a> says. \u201cThese future research trajectories, when pursued concurrently, have the potential to furnish physicians and public health advocates with essential details regarding the appropriate integration of medical cannabis alongside established medical guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

The majority of academic research around youth cannabis use focuses not on medical benefits but instead on youth consumption patterns in the wake of cannabis legalization. Many critics have worried that legalization would lead to a sharp rise in teen use of marijuana, but so far that hasn\u2019t materialized.<\/p>\n

For example, a recent federal report published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found that past-year marijuana use among minors\u2014defined as people 12 to 20 years of age\u2014had generally fallen in the years since states started legalizing marijuana for adults<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Notably, the percentage of young people aged 12 to 17 who\u2019ve ever tried marijuana dropped 18 percent from 2014, when the first legal recreational cannabis sales in the U.S. launched, to 2023. Past-year and past-month rates among young people also declined during that time period.<\/p>\n

Multiple other studies have debunked the idea that cannabis reform broadly increases youth use, with most finding that consumption trends are either stable or decrease after the reform is implemented. Use by heavy users may increase, however.<\/p>\n

For example, a research letter published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in April said there\u2019s no evidence that\u00a0states\u2019 adoption of laws to legalize and regulate marijuana for adults have led to an increase in youth use<\/a>\u00a0of cannabis.<\/p>\n

Another JAMA-published study earlier that month that similarly found that\u00a0neither legalization nor the opening of retail stores led to increases in youth cannabis use<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Data from a recent\u00a0Washington State survey of adolescent and teenage students<\/a>\u00a0found overall declines in both lifetime and past-30-day marijuana use since legalizations, with striking drops in recent years that held steady through 2023. The results also indicate that perceived ease of access to cannabis among underage students has generally fallen since the state enacted legalization for adults in 2012.<\/p>\n

Rates of youth marijuana use in Colorado, meanwhile,\u00a0declined slightly in 2023\u2014remaining significantly lower than before legalization<\/a>. That\u2019s according to results of the biannual Healthy Kids Colorado Survey released this month that found that past-30-day use of cannabis among high schoolers was at 12.8 percent in 2023, a dip from the 13.3 percent reported in 2021.<\/p>\n

A separate study late last year also found that Canadian high-school students reported\u00a0it was more difficult to access marijuana since the government legalized the drug nationwide<\/a>\u00a0in 2019. The prevalence of current cannabis use also fell during the study period, from 12.7 percent in 2018\u201319 to 7.5 percent in 2020\u201321, even as retail sales of marijuana expanded across the country.<\/p>\n

In December, meanwhile, a U.S. health official said that teen marijuana use has not increased\u00a0\u201ceven as state legalization has proliferated across the country.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been no substantial increases at all,\u201d said Marsha Lopez, chief of the National Institute on Drug Abuse\u2019s (NIDA) epidemiological research branch. \u201cIn fact, they have not reported an increase in perceived availability either, which is kind of interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another earlier analysis from CDC found that\u00a0rates of current and lifetime cannabis use among high school students<\/a>\u00a0have continued to drop amid the legalization movement.<\/p>\n

A study of high school students in Massachusetts that was published last November found that\u00a0youth in that state were no more likely to use marijuana after legalization<\/a>, though more students perceived their parents as cannabis consumers after the policy change.<\/p>\n

A separate NIDA-funded study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2022 also found that state-level\u00a0cannabis legalization was not associated with increased youth use<\/a>. The study demonstrated that \u201cyouth who spent more of their adolescence under legalization were no more or less likely to have used cannabis at age 15 years than adolescents who spent little or no time under legalization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet another 2022 study from Michigan State University researchers,\u00a0published in the journal PLOS One<\/a>, found that \u201ccannabis retail sales might be followed by the increased occurrence of cannabis onsets for older adults\u201d in legal states, \u201cbut not for underage persons who cannot buy cannabis products in a retail outlet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trends were observed despite\u00a0adult use of marijuana and certain psychedelics reaching \u201chistoric highs\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in 2022, according to separate data released last year.<\/p>\n

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Harris Accuses Trump Of \u2018Brazen Flip Flops\u2019 On Marijuana As Former President Endorses Florida Legalization Measure<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post Younger Patients Are Using Medical Marijuana For Anxiety, PTSD And Chronic Pain, Study Shows<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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A new study examining medical marijuana patients in the U.S. who are under the age of 21 finds that minors and young adults typically qualify for state cannabis programs for many of the same reasons that older adults do, including anxiety, PTSD and chronic pain. Those three qualifying conditions wereContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":77704,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,15462],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77703"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77705,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77703\/revisions\/77705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}