How the Incomplete Medicalization of Cannabis Shapes Patient Experiences

ABSTRACT

The medicalization of cannabis is currently described as incomplete in that it is not firmly under the control of biomedicine and because the medical definition coexists with other constructions of the plant, namely the recreational and criminal. This study examines how this incomplete medicalization is experienced by considering the sentiments expressed in five focus groups of cannabis patients (N = 21). Results indicate patients perceive both advantages and disadvantages to the incomplete medicalization of cannabis. Patients report that the current structure of state medical cannabis programs restores person control, allowing them to reduce their reliance on pharmaceuticals while driving them to learn more about their health and treatment options. Yet patients also report negative experiences with mainstream healthcare providers ranging from scorn to discrimination. Nonetheless, patients in this study desire that state-endorsed medical cannabis programs continue in a post-prohibition society because the advantages are interpreted as outweighing any disadvantages.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Zoann Snyder, Ann Miles, Jesse Smith, and Cathryn Bailey for their guidance throughout this project.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Biomedicine is the dominant approach to health and illness in Western societies. Nancy Krieger (1994) outlined three of biomedicine’s core principles: (1) Disease is a biological, chemical, or physical phenomenon; (2) Randomized controlled trials are the gold standard of research resulting in the marginalization of other research methods; and (3) A reductionist stance, disease and illness are best understood by isolating specific parts rather than taking a holistic view of the body, person, or social context.

² Pain contracts (or pain management agreement plans) have become a popular mechanism to surveil patients being prescribed narcotic medications. In Michigan, pain contracts are recommended in the quasi-regulatory guidelines for the prescription of controlled substances, but these guidelines are not legally binding.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matt Reid

Matt Reid, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Sociology and Criminology Department at Cabrini University. He currently researches the medicalization of cannabis, the continuing power of cannabis stigmas, and the dynamics of gender in the emerging legal cannabis economy. His work has also appeared in Deviant Behavior and the Journal of Cannabis Research.