Profiles of Medicinal Cannabis Patients Attending Compassion Centers in Rhode Island

Abstract

Little is understood regarding medicinal marijuana dispensary users. We sought to characterize socio-demographics and reasons for medicinal marijuana use among medical cannabis dispensary patients in Rhode Island. Participants (n=200) were recruited from one of two Compassion Centers in Rhode Island and asked to participate in a short survey, which included assessment of pain interference using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). The majority of participants were male (73%), Caucasian (80%), college educated (68%), and had health insurance (89%). The most common reason for medicinal marijuana use was determined to be chronic pain management. Participants were more likely to have BPI pain interference scores of > 5 if they were older (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.04–1.78) or reported using cannabis as a substitute for prescription medications (OR: 2.47, 95% CI: 1.23–4.95), and were less likely to have interference scores of >5 if they had higher income levels (OR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.40–0.70) or reported having ever received treatment for an alcohol use disorder. One-fifth of participants had a history of a drug or alcohol use disorder. Most participants report that medicinal cannabis improves their pain symptomology, and are interested in alternative treatment options to opioid-based treatment regimens.

Keywords:

• cannabis
• chronic pain
• Compassion Center
• Rhode Island