Doctors still reluctant to prescribe medical cannabis: McMaster

Meanwhile, the number of Canadians using medical cannabis has soared from just under 24,000 in June 2015 to 377,000 by September 2020. Six of the 11 physicians surveyed also raised the issue of how legal recreational cannabis affected its medical counterpart, but 10 said therapeutic variants should remain an option. Recreational cannabis, which has different formulation than medical cannabis, was legalized in Canada in October 2018. The report says the “increased use of medical cannabis was likely the result of the easing of regulations, greater availability given the growing numbers of producers and cannabis clinics and reduced stigma around the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes.” “When you have such widespread recreational and medical cannabis use, there is a real challenge for healthcare providers who are not trained in prescribing it,” said Busse.