According to new survey data released by EO Care, Inc., a strong majority of adults would use medical marijuana if guided by a clinician.
According to the survey of 1,027 Americans who were all employed at least part-time and were from states where cannabis is legal for medical and/or recreational use, 18% of respondents say they have used cannabis for health reasons in the past year, 19% have used cannabis for recreational reasons, and 14% have used it for both.
The top three reasons for their cannabis use are anxiety, pain and sleep, and 88% of medical cannabis users say it reduced their use of prescription drugs, alcohol, or both.
51% said they would be likely/very likely to use cannabis if it were offered by their health plan, and 65% of respondents said they would feel more comfortable using cannabis if it were screened and dosed by a clinician.
“Finding clinical guidance for medicinal cannabis is difficult because most doctors lack the knowledge and retail dispensaries are not equipped to provide medical advice,” said Sean Collins, co-founder and CEO of EO Care. “As a result we have tens of millions of Americans using cannabis for health reasons without guidance on specific product recommendations, dosage amounts, possible drug interactions, or consideration of their health history and other potential health risks. Given that sales of cannabis for health reasons is far higher than most prescription drugs, this is a highly concerning situation for healthcare generally.”
The survey also found that 56% of respondents said they would be more likely to take a job at a company whose health plan offered cannabis care, and 44% would reconsider applying for a job at a company that tested for prior use of cannabis use or prohibited cannabis outside of the workplace.
“94 percent of Americans live in a state where cannabis is legal in some form,” said Collins. “And we know a large percentage of Americans have used cannabis in the past year, so this is definitely impacting employees and health outcomes. With the right medicinal cannabis guidance employers have an opportunity to help their employees, improve health outcomes and be progressive leaders in offering this important benefit that employees will come to expect.”
