Abstract
Background:
Patients with cancer employ medicinal cannabis for poly-symptom management and as cancer-directed therapy. Little is known about their perspectives on the medicinal cannabis “high.”
Methods:
Qualitative interviews across eight states with medicinal cannabis users with physician-verified cancer diagnoses (n = 24).
Results:
Every participant referenced and 15 spoke in depth about the medicinal cannabis “high.” Antitheticals characterized it: sleepiness versus heightened attention; calm versus “agitation.” The intensity of the “high” served as a proxy metric by which participant's judged medicinal cannabis' cancer-directed therapy and symptom management efficacies. Overall, however, study participants viewed the “high” as a barrier to medicinal cannabis use and worked to avoid experiencing for prolonged periods.
Conclusions:
The “high” is central to the manner with which patients with cancer experience medicinal cannabis. Clinicians should be aware that patients may struggle to fine-tune medicinal cannabis dosing in the setting of the “high,” and this challenge should be included in clinical discussions regarding oncological medicinal cannabis use.
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