How Many Medical Cannabis Patients Are First-Time Users?
If you were to divide all medical cannabis users into three groups based on how they came to begin using, one of those groups would be first-time users. These are people who had never tried cannabis previously. They also had no knowledge of its effects on the human body. They began using based on a doctor’s recommendation.
It would be interesting to know how many first-time users are really out there. There is probably no way to find that out given the reluctance to talk about medical cannabis use. But if the hard data were there, it would probably be surprising.
Similarly, it would be interesting to count the number of medical cannabis patients who were active users before medical legalization. Some speculate they made up the lion’s share of the first wave of medical cannabis card applications in many states. But again, there is no way to know.
First Time with No Knowledge
Using cannabis for the first time as a medical user is probably not all that unusual. But coming into it as a first timer with no previous knowledge might be. This writer has never used cannabis in any form. But I still know it’s out there. I also have a fundamental understanding of how it’s used to treat certain medical conditions.
Should the need for me to use medical cannabis ever present itself, I would be part of the second group: first-time users who had previous knowledge despite not using. An educated guess suggests this group is the second largest behind previous users.
What makes medical cannabis such a curious thing is its wide range of applications. I consider my knowledge fairly robust thanks to the research I’ve done for my work. And yet I am also willing to admit that I still have a lot to learn. There are probably applications I have never heard of. There are likely many more no one has ever heard of. They are still waiting to be discovered by researchers.
Working with Their Doctors
Getting back to those first-time users with no knowledge, they are essentially working with their doctors to find relief from whatever conditions they suffer from. Qualifying conditions vary by state, according to the medical marijuana doctors with Utah Marijuana.
Nearly every state with a medical cannabis program recognizes chronic pain as a qualifying condition. Utah certainly does. Chronic pain is generally described as pain that lasts longer than three months and limits quality of life. It can be the result of osteoarthritis, major surgery, or even cancer.
Medical marijuana might be recommended to first-time chronic pain patients as an alternative to opioids. There is nothing wrong with that. We all know from media coverage of the opioid crisis how terrible addiction can be. Almost anything capable of providing pain relief without the use of highly addictive opioids seems good.
A Whole New World
Those first-time patients who turn to medical cannabis on the advice of their doctors voluntarily enter a whole new world previously unknown to them. Furthermore, they embark on a lifelong journey of learning. You see, medical cannabis is not just a single drug packaged as a pill or capsule.
There are different medical cannabis formulas combining THC, CBD, lesser-known cannabinoids, and terpenes. There are different form factors, too. One person might prefer dry heating marijuana flower; another might prefer vape cartridges; still others might use a tincture, oil, or edible product.
First-time users are in for an adventure, that’s for sure. Knowing how many there are would be nice, inasmuch as it might help us develop better programs tailored to their needs.
