title: Frequency and Risk of Marijuana Use among Substance-Using Health Care Patients in Colorado with and without Access to State Legalized Medical Marijuana.
abstract: With increasing use of state legalized medical marijuana across the country, health care providers need accurate information on patterns of marijuana and other substance use for patients with access to medical marijuana. This study compared frequency and severity of marijuana use, and use of other substances, for patients with and without state legal access to medical marijuana. Data were collected from 2,030 patients who screened positive for marijuana use when seeking health care services in a large, urban safety-net medical center. Patients were screened as part of a federally funded screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) initiative. Patients were asked at screening whether they had a state-issued medical marijuana card and about risky use of tobacco, alcohol, and other illicit substances. A total of 17.4% of marijuana users had a medical marijuana card. Patients with cards had higher frequency of marijuana use and were more likely to screen at moderate than low or high risk from marijuana use. Patients with cards also had lower use of other substances than patients without cards. Findings can inform health care providers of both the specific risks of frequent, long-term use and the more limited risks of other substance use faced by legal medical marijuana users.
authors.affiliation: a Director of Research and Evaluation, OMNI Institute , Denver , CO.
authors.forename: Melissa K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Richmond
authors.forename: Fred C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Pampel
authors.forename: Laura S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.forename: Kerryann B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Broderick
authors.forename: Brie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reimann
authors.forename: Leigh
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D003120:Colorado / Q000453:epidemiology; D004608:Eligibility Determination / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D064086:Medical Marijuana / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D063487:Prescription Drug Misuse / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods; D064424:Tobacco Use / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D064086:Medical Marijuana
keywords: SBIRT; marijuana; medical marijuana; prevention