On Wednesday, the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis (CMC) requested the United Kingdom government to perform an urgent review of the medical marijuana policy regarding marijuana accessibility.
The request came after the CMC published the findings of a UK survey. The poll investigated the general public consumption frequency of street-available marijuana in England, Wales, and Scotland.
The YouGov survey had 10,602 respondents, and the study findings were published in a new report referred to as ‘Left Behind-The Scale of Illegal Cannabis Use for Medicinal Intent’. According to the survey findings, more than 1.4 million people (2.8% of the adults) are treating chronic health conditions with marijuana.
The report also revealed that people across all age groups, social standing, family groups, and both sexes from Britain are using marijuana therapeutically, and half of them spend approximately £100 every month on weed to manage their symptoms.
After analyzing the survey findings, CMC made the following estimation on the number of people using marijuana to treat various health conditions in the UK.
- Depression – 653,456
- Anxiety – 586,288
- Chronic pain – 326,728
- Arthritis – 230,631
- Insomnia – 182,583
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – 177,778
The medical lead at the Center for Medicinal Cannabis, Dr. Daniel Couch, said that the data in their report highlights the personal, moral, and societal cost of consuming street-available weed.
According to the published report, marijuana consumption is done by people across all socio-demographic groups. Self-medicating on medical marijuana was observed in 56% of people from social class C2DE, and 44% from ABC1.
The majority of the people who are self-medicating are between the ages of 18-44 ( 71.4%); however, a large number of users are above the age of 55 (14.6%), while 80% of these people use marijuana as a treatment daily or weekly.
On the issue of consumption frequency, the survey found that daily, weekly, and monthly use was 55.8%, 23.4%, and 8.5%, respectively. It also found that 42% of consumers spend more than £100 each month on street marijuana while 9% of consumers do not spend a penny on weed because they either grow it or are given by friends or caregivers.
The highest spending was observed among people who have Parkinson’s disease as they spent £350 each month.
According to the poll’s findings, people are using marijuana to treat the following conditions:
- Depression,
- Anxiety,
- Chronic pain,
- Insomnia,
- Autism spectrum disorder,
- Psoriasis,
- High blood pressure,
- Cancer,
- Schizophrenia,
- Spinal cord injury,
- Glaucoma,
- Heart disease,
- Cascular disease,
- Peripheral neurosis, and
- HIV/AIDs.
According to the YouGov survey, the consumption frequency of people suffering from various ailments was as follows, Huntington’s disease 41.67%, schizophrenia, 41.18%, Parkinson’s disease 30.43%, Autism spectrum disorder 20.39%, Multiple Sclerosis 19.23%, and PTSD 17.37%.
The review on medical marijuana policy called for by the CMC is intended to ensure that patients can afford marijuana as well as reducing the personal risk of buying street-available weed.
Currently, the number of clinical trials assessing the therapeutic effect of marijuana-based medicines is limited.
The founder of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis, Steve Moore, said that the survey findings confirm their suspicion that at least 3% of the adult population in the UK are using marijuana to manage their chronic health conditions instead of the pharmaceutical products.
The report reaffirms the importance of re-evaluating the issue of marijuana accessibility in the UK, said the Ceo of Block Commodities, Ian Tordoff. Tordoff further noted that his company would continue to support CMC efforts and raise awareness of the positive impact of marijuana plants on public health and general social wellbeing.
Industry watchers believe that cannabis companies like Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) are always deeply saddened when reports of entire populations forced to depend on marijuana from the black market emerge as this UK survey shows.
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