More than half of Arkansans using medical marijuana in 2021 used the drug as a pain reliever, and a large proportion of patients have used it to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, according to study findings presented to state lawmakers Wednesday.
The study, conducted by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, is the first ever population-based study of medical marijuana funded by a federal health agency, the National Institutes of Health.
As of this month, more than 3% of Arkansas adults have received permission from physicians to use the drug to treat one or more of the state's 18 qualifying medical conditions. The state currently has more than 105,000 cardholders, an increase of roughly 29,000 in three years, according to ACHI's study.
Lawmakers on the Joint Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee asked ACHI CEO Dr. Joe Thompson for more specific data and expressed concerns about some of the information in the study, such as the fact that one-third of the certifications for medical marijuana cards in 2021 came from just seven doctors, with little evidence of a physician-patient relationship in many cases.
Read more at arkansasadvocate.com