Prevalence of Use Grows, but Lack of Guidance Persists
We all know that healthcare continues to become more complicated and far more expensive. This is why Mass Retirees continues to seek new and innovative ways to improve the quality of care offered to our members, as well as to reduce or slow the growth of costs.
As members may already be aware, Mass Retirees recently began a partnership with EO, a Massachusetts-based provider of free clinician-led medical cannabis guidance, along with affordable, purpose-designed medical cannabis products. Our decision to work with EO follows the results of a member survey indicating overwhelming interest in the safe use of medical cannabis as a treatment option.
To be very clear, our involvement in this issue is strictly focused on the medical use of cannabis, which was legalized by Massachusetts voters in 2012. The medical use of cannabis is now legal in 38 states and should not be confused with the recreational use of the drug. A pending federal reclassification of cannabis from a Class 1 to Class 3 substance is expected to lead to increased medical use and clinical research of the drug.
An important factor that makes EO standout are the people running the company and serving members. EO is led by highly respected healthcare professionals and staffed by medical doctors and clinicians. The company is solely focused on the medical use of cannabis and is not involved at all in the recreational use of the drug. The products available through EO are not smokeable.
Depending on the application, some medical cannabis products are ingestible, while others take the form of topical creams and gels.
We’ve embarked on the partnership with EO for reasons that are largely explained by three recent studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The first study of over 3,000 adults looked at the impact of cannabis on overall quality of life among those who were using cannabis to manage chronic pain, cancer and treatment related symptoms, insomnia and/or anxiety. A significant majority of these patients saw meaningful and sustained improvements in quality of life attributable to their cannabis use.
However, as a second study indicated, the risks of improper cannabis use are quite real. It showed that over 20% of regular cannabis users will eventually develop a cannabis use disorder in which cannabis begins to negatively impact their health, work or social lives.
Finally, a third study of over 175,000 adult primary care patients looked at the prevalence of cannabis use. The study showed that
17% of patients were using cannabis regularly. Of these patients, 76% reported they were using cannabis to self-manage a medical condition such as chronic pain, sleeplessness, anxiety or poor appetite. This means a remarkable 13% of all of these primary care patients were using cannabis for a medical or wellness reason with the vast majority doing so without expert clinical guidance.
Our takeaway from these and other studies is that cannabis holds real promise as a tool to help members manage some very common health concerns. However, as with any medication it’s clear cannabis needs to be used responsibly and with expert clinician guidance so members can minimize or avoid negative impacts, achieve optimal effects and not waste money on products that aren’t right for them (the average medical or wellness user spends over $200 per month on products alone).
If you are currently using cannabis for a medical or wellness reason or are considering doing so, Mass Retirees strongly encourages you to both talk to your primary care physician and take a moment to fill out a free individualized clinical based care plan from EO. You can visit them at partner.eo.care/mass-retirees or call 888-823-6143 during regular business hours. At no charge, they can help you determine if cannabis is right for you and help you responsibly and affordably achieve and maintain your optimal medical cannabis regimen.
Finally, EO is seeking to put an advisory panel in place that is made up of retirees utilizing medical cannabis. The panel will consist of 5-7 retirees, and you would be compensated for your time. If this is something that interests you, please contact us directly.