title: Profiles of medicinal cannabis patients attending compassion centers in rhode island.
abstract: Little is understood regarding medicinal marijuana dispensary users. We sought to characterize socio-demographics and reasons for medicinal marijuana use among medical cannabis dispensary patients in Rhode Island. Participants (n=200) were recruited from one of two Compassion Centers in Rhode Island and asked to participate in a short survey, which included assessment of pain interference using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). The majority of participants were male (73%), Caucasian (80%), college educated (68%), and had health insurance (89%). The most common reason for medicinal marijuana use was determined to be chronic pain management. Participants were more likely to have BPI pain interference scores of > 5 if they were older (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.04-1.78) or reported using cannabis as a substitute for prescription medications (OR: 2.47, 95% CI: 1.23-4.95), and were less likely to have interference scores of >5 if they had higher income levels (OR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.40-0.70) or reported having ever received treatment for an alcohol use disorder. One-fifth of participants had a history of a drug or alcohol use disorder. Most participants report that medicinal cannabis improves their pain symptomology, and are interested in alternative treatment options to opioid-based treatment regimens.
authors.affiliation: a Associate Professor, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences-Health Behavior and Health Education , Little Rock , AR.
authors.forename: Nickolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zaller
authors.forename: Ariel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Topletz
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frater
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yates
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lally
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064086:Medical Marijuana / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D012237:Rhode Island / Q000453:epidemiology; D057566:Self Report; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D064086:Medical Marijuana
keywords: Compassion Center; Rhode Island; cannabis; chronic pain