Regional differences in possessing medical cannabis license: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Objective: The goal of the study was to investigate the differences in the distribution of medical cannabis licenses across different regions in Israel in order to better understand the way the policy regarding medical cannabis licensing may affect various social groups. We distinguish between various peripheral regions to test the notion of homogeneity of the periphery in the distribution of health-care services.

Methods: The data were collected through an online cross-sectional survey among a convenience sample of cannabis users (N = 666). Logistic regression has been used for the multivariate analysis.

Results: Residents in the northern part of Israel are less likely to obtain medical cannabis license as compared to the central region.

Conclusions: The findings emphasize a geographic inequality in the implementation of the medical cannabis policy in Israel, whereas the periphery was found to be heterogeneous in regards to the outcome. More research is needed to assess the sources of the disparity and whether there is a need to intervene in order to improve access to medical cannabis treatment for residents of specific areas in the country.

KEYWORDS:

• Cannabis licensing
• cannabis policy
• health inequalities
• medical cannabis
• periphery

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical approval

The Institutional Review Board of the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences at the University of Haifa approved the study.

Additional information

Funding

This study was not supported by any organization in the public, private, or not-for-profit sector.