Federally Funded Study Finds Cancer Patients Need Insurance Coverage for Medical Marijuana

A federally funded study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry found that cancer patients using medical marijuana experienced pain relief, better sleep, emotional regulation, and reduced use of other medications. Researchers said the results highlight the need for insurance coverage of medicinal cannabis to reduce financial burdens and stigma.

A new federally funded study of cancer patients who use medical marijuana found that cannabis provided therapeutic benefits for pain, sleep, emotional regulation, and medication reduction, leading researchers to call for insurance coverage of medicinal cannabis.

The paper, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, surveyed 65 cancer patients and compared those who used CBD-dominant products only with those who used products containing both THC and CBD. Pain relief was the most frequently discussed benefit among all patients, but it was most prominent among those who used THC and CBD products, while emotional regulation was more prominent among CBD-only users.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, and Realm of Caring Foundation also examined how perceived benefits were interconnected. In the CBD-only group, pain relief was most strongly connected to emotional regulation, medication reduction, sleep or physical relaxation, and appetite stimulation. In the THC and CBD group, pain relief was most often connected to sleep or physical relaxation, emotional regulation, medication reduction, and appetite stimulation.

The study, funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Realm of Caring Foundation, also asked patients about barriers to access. The most frequently reported barriers were stigma associated with THC use and the high cost of CBD-dominant and THC-dominant products.

The authors wrote that the findings highlight "the need for insurance coverage of medicinal cannabis to reduce the financial burden for this patient population." They noted limitations including self-selection and self-report bias, and called for future research with larger, more diverse samples and objective measures of cannabinoid efficacy.