The Medical Marijuana Conundrum: When Public Interest Outpaces Medical Knowledge

The public perception of medical marijuana has outpaced medical knowledge. Oncologists encounter an increasing number of patient questions and interest regarding its use. This study highlights the beliefs, attitudes and knowledge of medical oncologists regarding the therapeutic use of marijuana.

View the related article Medical Oncologists’ Beliefs, Practices, and Knowledge Regarding Marijuana Used Therapeutically: A Nationally Representative Survey Study by Braun et al on JCO.org.

This JCO Podcast provides observations and commentary on the JCO article ‘'Medical Oncologists' Beliefs, Practices and Knowledge Regarding Marijuana Used Therapeutically: A Nationally-Representative Survey Study' by Braun and colleagues. My name is Kimberson Tanco, and I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. I am a Palliative Medicine physician.

Medical marijuana is one of the fastest growing medical issues nationwide, so much so it is now legal under certain conditions in more than half of the country, with additional limited indications in certain “non-legal” states for pediatric refractory epileptic conditions.1 Most of the current trials are directed towards non-cancer conditions. In contrast, in the article that accompanies this podcast, Braun and colleagues highlight a variety of key issues that face oncology practitioners regarding cannabis and its potential uses and toxicities.

As healthcare professionals, it is inevitable that we will be asked by our patients and/or their caregivers about the use of medical marijuana, either in a legalized or a non-legalized state. This study does a good job of recording clinician beliefs and practices from different regions of the nation. It also points out a very important fact that the interest and curiosities about the use of medical marijuana far outpaces our knowledge base as demonstrated in their results. It was very interesting to know that up to 80% of oncologists conducted discussions and 46% recommended medical marijuana for clinical use as compared to only 30% feeling sufficiently knowledgeable enough to make informed recommendations. This is quite a change from 2010, when they cited that only 20% of family practitioner respondents in Colorado would recommend medical marijuana and