Commentary
Article
September 15, 2024
Author(s):
Every day, Marie Parish, PharmD, BCOP, a gastrointestinal oncology pharmacist with Mayo Clinic, gets asked questions by patients and other providers about how to incorporate cannabis into patients’ treatment plans. Despite the growing interest and use, the fact that cannabis is still illegal federally means there remains a dearth of data , Parish said.
During a presentation at an Institute for Value-Based Medicine ® event cohosted by The American Journal of Managed Care ® and Mayo Clinic, Parish explained the mechanisms behind how cannabis works to manage pain, delivery mechanisms, and more.
Transcript
How has the legalization of recreational cannabis last year in Minnesota impacted interest from patients?
The number of questions that I get about cannabis, I mean, I don’t think a day goes by where I don’t get questions from either patients or providers about how to incorporate this into patients’ existing treatment plans. I think the issue is that, because it’s still considered federally illegal—it’s a Schedule I substance per the Controlled Substances Act—it is very, very challenging to get clinical trials off the ground. It’s hard to get medical-grade product to test with. There’s a ton of loopholes to go through with the DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency]. It’s very expensive. So, while we’re seeing an increased use in patients, kind of out in the community, we don’t necessarily have the data to back that up. That’s where we’re kind of in limbo right now.There’s been discussion about rescheduling it from a Schedule I to a Schedule III. My hope is that once that happens, that will open the floodgates for well-designed, well-powered, randomized controlled trials that can give us the data that we’re looking for, so we can find which patients would benefit the most, and then have safety and efficacy data to back all of that up. With legalization and more people using it in the community, are there concerns that patients might start using it without discussing with their providers? How do you handle those conversations? I have now incorporated into all of my patient care visits [that] I will ask […]
Incorporating Discussions of Cannabis Use Into Oncology Care Visits
