Cancer Patients' Experiences with and Perspectives on the Medicinal Cannabis High

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.

Automated summary

Patients with cancer use medicinal cannabis for symptom management and cancer-directed therapy. The high experienced from medicinal cannabis is seen as a barrier to its use and patients try to avoid prolonged periods of being high.