John SchroyerA new federally funded report that tallied medical marijuana patient statistics from across the country found a dramatic increase of registered cannabis patients over a seven-year period, from roughly 678,000 in 2016 to more than 4.1 million at the end of 2022.
The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, focused primarily on medical cannabis patient data from 2020 to 2022, but examined data from as far back as 2016, Marijuana Moment reported.
The report was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institutes of Health, and authored by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the University of Michigan.
The report found that in that from 2020 to 2022, medical marijuana patient registrations shot up by about a third, from just over 3 million to 4.1 million, and concluded that the increase was partially due to a rise in mainstream “cultural acceptance of cannabis” and corresponding interest in its medical uses.
The report also reiterated that medical patient registrations tend to dip after adult-use products become available, and said that in 13 of 15 states that trend was obvious in the same timeframe.
The researchers examined 39 U.S. state marijuana markets for their data, including 34 that reported patient numbers, 19 that had qualifying medical conditions for patients, and 29 with authorizing clinician statistics.
The report found that chronic pain was unsurprisingly the top medical ailment cited by registered patients in 2022, representing 48% of patients. Runner-up was anxiety, with just 14% of patients, and then post-traumatic stress disorder with 13%.
“This study shows that medical cannabis isn’t going anywhere, and it’s important to figure out how best to effectively integrate cannabis into medical treatment given the widespread use,” report author Dr. Kevin Boehnke told Marijuana Moment.
