Orlando, FL: A supermajority of practicing US physicians believe that cannabis possesses medical value, according to survey data published in the journal Cureus.
A pair of researchers anonymously surveyed 539 US physicians attending the 2018 American College of Emergency Physicians’ Annual Conference. The conference is the largest gathering of emergency medicine physicians in the country.
Seventy-one percent of survey respondents “believed that cannabis has medical value.”
The survey’s finding is consistent with that of another recent poll, compiled by the US Centers for Disease Control, which reported that 69 percent of US clinicians believe that cannabis possesses medical utility. The CDC survey also acknowledged that over 25 percent of physicians have recommended medical cannabis treatment to their patients.
Commenting on the findings, NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “Overwhelming majorities of patients and their providers acknowledge that cannabis is medicine. Politicians should not be standing in their way by opposing efforts to permit medical professionals from recommending cannabis to their patients in instances where they believe it is therapeutically appropriate.”
Full text of the study, “Emergency room physicians would prefer using cannabis over opioids for first-line treatment of a medical condition if provided with medical evidence: A national survey,” appears in Cureus. Additional information is available from NORML’s fact sheet, ‘Health Clinicians’ Attitudes Toward Cannabis.’
