Second-Hand Exposure of Staff Administering Vaporised Cannabinoid Products to Patients in a Hospital Setting
In many health settings, administration of medicinal cannabis poses significant implementation barriers including drug storage and safety for administering staff and surrounding patients. Different modes of administration also provide different yet potentially significant issues. One route that has become of clinical interest owing to the rapid onset of action and patient control of the inhaled amount (via breath timing and depth) is that of vaporisation of cannabinoid products. Although requiring a registered therapeutic device for administration, this is a relatively safe method of intrapulmonary administration that may be particularly useful for patients with difficulty swallowing, and for those in whom higher concentrations of cannabinoids are needed quickly. Research results are reassuring for hospital and clinical trial practices with staff administering vaporised cannabinoid products, and helpful to ethics committees wishing to quantify risk.
