Understanding Patients’ Process to Use Medical Marijuana: A Southern New Jersey Community Engagement Project

Given the necessity to better understand the process patients need to go through in order to seek treatment via medical marijuana, this study investigates this process to better understand this phenomenon. Specifically, Compassion Care Foundation (CCF) and Stockton University worked together to identify a solution to this problem. Results indicate that patients are reporting a moderately high level of pain prior to treatment. Implication of these results highlights several important elements in the patients’ initial steps toward seeking medical marijuana, along with the quality and quantity of the process patients must engage in prior to obtaining treatment. In addition, identifying patients’ level of pain and better understanding the possible therapeutic value of medical marijuana are essential to patients and health practitioners.