A federal health agency, The National Cancer Institute, is acknowledging that a sizable portion—between about 20 percent and 40 percent—of people being treated for cancer are using cannabis products to manage side effects from the condition and associated treatment.Such widespread uptake by patients raises concerns that use is outpacing scientific knowledge on efficacy and risks, but added that rescheduling marijuana could help remove current barriers to research to address the “scientific evidence deficit.”
“According to findings from several of the studies, anywhere from about 20% to 40% of people being treated for cancer use cannabis or cannabinoids,” the researchers at the National Cancer Institute, “often broadly referred to as medical marijuana—to help manage side effects like nausea, pain, sleeplessness, anxiety, and stress.”
A main finding of one study led by NCI researchers, for example, is that patients’ “reported use of cannabis since diagnosis varied only slightly by legal status.” Of those surveyed between September 2021 and August 2032, 34% of patients who resided in states where marijuana was legal reported using the substance, compared to 31% in medical-only states and 24% in states where cannabis was illegal. In all, just under a third (32%) of patients reported using cannabis, with respondents reporting that they used marijuana primarily to treat cancer- and treatment-related symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, pain and mood changes.
