Predictors of medicinal cannabis users' willingness to utilise a new prescription Medicinal Cannabis Scheme in New Zealand.

AIM: To investigate medicinal cannabis users' intentions to transition to the new prescription Medicinal Cannabis Scheme (MCS) in New Zealand. METHOD: An online survey of 3,634 past-year medicinal cannabis users completed prior to implementation of the MCS in New Zealand in April 2020. Logistic regression models were fitted to identify predictors of intended future engagement with the MCS. RESULTS: Seventy-eight percent of respondents were aware of the new MCS and 66% intended to use it. Higher income (OR=1.57), younger age (OR=1.02) and smoking cannabis (v. vaping (OR=2.0) or oral ingestion in edible form (OR=2.22)) predicted intention to engage with the MCS. Conversely, Maori (OR=0.63) and those who grew their own cannabis (OR=0.52) were less likely to intend to engage with the new prescription MCS. CONCLUSION: The lower intended engagement with the MCS by Maori, lower income groups and those who home-grow cannabis may reflect their perceptions of the MCS as restrictive and expensive.

Exploring medicinal use of cannabis in a time of policy change in New Zealand.

AIMS: To explore patterns of medicinal cannabis use prior to implementation of the new Medicinal Cannabis Scheme (MCS) in New Zealand. METHODS: An anonymous online convenience survey of 3,634 last-year medicinal users of cannabis promoted via Facebook™ from May to August 2019. RESULTS: Fifty percent of the sample were female, 18% were Maori and the median age was 38 years. The medical conditions for which cannabis was most often used were pain (81%), sleep (66%) and mental health conditions (64%). Respondents perceived cannabis to be an effective therapy and reported reducing use of other pharmaceutical medicines. Fifty-two percent reported side effects from cannabis use, including increased appetite (29%), drowsiness (12%), eye irritation (11%), dependency (10%), memory impairment (10%) and lack of energy (9%). Smoking was the dominant route of administration. Nearly half (47%) had discussed their use of cannabis with a medical professional in the previous year, while 14% had requested a prescription and 5% accessed a prescribed cannabis-based product (mostly oral CBD). CONCLUSION: Respondents self-medicated with cannabis to treat a wide range of health complaints. Only half discussed medicinal cannabis use with their medical professional, and a minority requested a prescription and used a prescribed cannabis-based product.