Public health scientists at Fred Hutch Cancer Center dug into cannabis and alcohol use among their cancer patients with two recent studies.
A study published in the journal Cancer Causes & Control used the cancer registry for the Pacific Northwest region to identify 1,515 patients who’d been diagnosed from April to December 2020. They then had these patients complete a questionnaire outlining demographics, medical history and cannabis and other substance use.
Results, per lead author Mimi (Trucmai) Ton, MPH, were surprising. More than 40% of the patients reported cannabis use after their cancer diagnosis, she said.
Patients in chemotherapy often use anti-nausea drugs, but may supplement with cannabis if these drugs prove ineffective. In addition, cannabis is sometimes used as a way to stimulate appetite in patients or to help with insomnia (cancer medications often include steroids which can cause sleeplessness).
The researchers found most patients used edibles (60.5%) or smoked it (43.8%). The most frequent reason for use cited in the survey were sleep (54.5%); mood, stress, anxiety and depression (44.3%); pain (42.3%); and recreation (42.3%).
“About half of those who used cannabis after their cancer diagnosis reported using it at least several times per week during cancer treatment,” Ton said.
Co-author Jaimee Heffner, PhD , director of Fred Hutch’s TReHD (Tobacco-Related Health Disparities research group), said the results were unexpected.
“The overall prevalence of cannabis use was a little eye opening,” she said.
In the U.S., cannabis for medical use is legal in 38 of 50 states; cannabis for recreation is legal in 24 states. In 2012, Washington state passed Initiative 502, which allows adults over the age of 21 to purchase the drug in various forms. Cannabis is still illegal under federal law but there are several bills before Congress proposing changes to this. ‘Risky’ alcohol use in nearly a third of patients The same team also published an analysis of alcohol use by people who’d been diagnosed with cancer, publishing their results in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention .They again used the cancer registry for the Pacific Northwest region to identify people ages 21 to 74 diagnosed with any type of […]
Alcohol, Cannabis Use After Cancer: ‘Eye-Opening’ Prevalence
