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Comparative Study
. 2016 Mar;35(3):480-8.
doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0528.

Older, Less Regulated Medical Marijuana Programs Have Much Greater Enrollment Rates Than Newer 'Medicalized' Programs

Arthur Robin Williams  1 , Mark Olfson  2 , June H Kim  3 , Silvia S Martins  4 , Herbert D Kleber  5
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Older, Less Regulated Medical Marijuana Programs Have Much Greater Enrollment Rates Than Newer 'Medicalized' Programs

Arthur Robin Williams et al. Health Aff (Millwood). 2016 Mar.

Abstract

Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have passed laws implementing medical marijuana programs. The nineteen programs that were in operation as of October 2014 collectively had over one million participants. All states (including D.C.) with medical marijuana laws require physicians directly or indirectly to authorize the use of marijuana at their discretion, yet little is known about how medical marijuana programs vary regarding adherence to basic principles of medical practice and associated rates of enrollment. To explore this, we analyzed marijuana programs according to seven components of traditional medical care and pharmaceutical regulation. We then examined enrollment rates, while controlling for potentially confounding state characteristics. We found that fourteen of the twenty-four programs were nonmedical and collectively enrolled 99.4 percent of participants nationwide, with enrollment rates twenty times greater than programs deemed to be "medicalized." Policy makers implementing or amending medical marijuana programs should consider the powerful relationship between less regulation and greater enrollment. Researchers should consider variations across programs when assessing programs' population-level effects.

Keywords: Mental Health/Substance Abuse; Pharmaceuticals; Physicians; Public Opinion; State/Local Issues.

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Figures

Exhibit 3
Exhibit 3. Enrollment and medical orientation scores in state medical marijuana programs
Source Authors' analysis of information on 19 state medical marijuana programs in operation as of October 27, 2014.
Exhibit 4
Exhibit 4. Enrollment in state medical marijuana programs and presence of four program components
Source Authors' analysis of information on 19 state medical marijuana programs in operation as of October 27, 2014. Notes The components are described in Exhibit 1. Each of the first three components were included in nineteen programs; thirty-day supply limits were included in sixteen programs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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