Melanie Bone
Dr. Melanie Bone (Private Medical Practice)
Co-Authors: Carlton Bone1, Hannah Fechtel2
1Portland State University 2University of Florida
Cannabis physicians recommend varying ratios of cannabinoids and delivery devices to their patients from an increasingly wide array of products in the Florida Medical Marijuana market. This research leverages the unique position of private medical marijuana practices, as avenues for corroborating clinical research studies and developing more demographically targeted insights into medical marijuana patients. Survey data were collected from a cohort of patients in a private medical marijuana practice in South Florida. Responses were collected during the normal patient screening process before and after starting to use cannabinoid products, and have additionally been used by the Physician to guide care and monitor cannabinoid product outcomes. Despite not being able to establish a correlation between specific cannabinoids, the analysis found no patients reported an increase in pharmaceutical medication use, 35% reported no change, 37% reported a decrease, and 21% reported complete cessation. These results reinforce the idea that many patients report using Medical Marijuana to substitute and supplement pharmaceutical treatments. The researchers believe future research, that focuses on a wider spectrum of cannabinoids and specific pharmaceuticals can help yield practical insights for clinicians and regulators alike.