Perception of Benefits and Harms of Medical Cannabis among Seriously Ill Patients in an Outpatient Palliative Care Practice

Patients with serious illness often have pain, uncontrolled symptoms, and poor quality of life. Evidence continues to evolve regarding the role of cannabis to treat chronic pain, nausea, and anorexia. Little is known about how patients with serious illness perceive its benefits and harms. Given that an increasing number of clinicians across the United States are treating patients with medical cannabis, it is important for providers to understand patient beliefs about this modality.

Cannabis in palliative care: current challenges and practical recommendations

Pain and symptom control challenges are common in palliative care, and the search for other therapeutic strategies is ongoing. Unfortunately, patients and their caregivers are receiving little information or support from healthcare providers regarding the increasingly popular cannabinoid-based medicines (CBM). As this class of therapeutic agents are likely to play a major role in palliative medicine in the near future, clinicians would benefit from familiarizing themselves with CBM and we can expect that patients and their caregivers will appreciate receiving support in their search for safe and effective therapeutic alternatives.

Attitudes and Beliefs About Medical Usefulness and Legalization of Marijuana among Cancer Patients in a Legalized and a Nonlegalized State

There is a growing preference for the use of marijuana for medical purposes, despite limited evidence regarding its benefits and potential safety risks. Legalization status may play a role in the attitudes and preferences toward medical marijuana (MM). Adult cancer patients seen by the Palliative Care teams in the outpatient centers were evaluated. Cancer patients from both legalized and nonlegalized states supported legalization of marijuana for medical purposes and believed in its medical use. The support for legalization for medical use was significantly higher than for recreational use in both states.

Cannabinoid control of neuroinflammation related to multiple sclerosis

The cannabis plant (Cannabis sativa) has been known by many names but the question remains ‘Can we call it medicine?’ There has been renewed interest in the value of cannabis for the control of neuroinflammatory conditions such as multiple sclerosis, where it has been shown to have some effect on spasticity and pain both experimentally and in clinical trials in humans.

Cannabis in palliative care: current challenges and practical recommendations

Pain and symptom control challenges are common in palliative care, and the search for other therapeutic strategies is ongoing. Unfortunately, patients and their caregivers are receiving little information or support from healthcare providers regarding the increasingly popular cannabinoid-based medicines (CBM). Clinicians, meanwhile, feel understandably perplexed by the discrepancy between the available evidence and the rapid interest in which patients and their families have demonstrated for CBM.