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. 2023 May 4;28(2):102-106.
doi: 10.1093/pch/pxac099. eCollection 2023 May.

Medical cannabis in schools: The experiences of caregivers

Holly Mansell  1 , Zina Zaslawski  2 , Sophia Mbabaali  3 , Patricia M King  4 , Lauren E Kelly  5   6 , Taylor Lougheed  7   8 , Jennifer Anderson  9 , Richard J Huntsman  10 , Jane Alcorn  1
Affiliations

Medical cannabis in schools: The experiences of caregivers

Holly Mansell et al. Paediatr Child Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: Implementing medical cannabis (MC) into a child's daily routine can be challenging and there is a lack of guidance for its therapeutic use in schools in Canada. Our objective was to learn about the experiences of caregivers of school-aged children who require MC.

Methods: Qualitative description was used and caregivers were interviewed about MC in schools and in general. The transcripts were entered into Dedoose software for qualitative analysis and content analysis was performed. Sentences and statements were ascribed line by line into meaning units and labelled with codes, and organized according to categories and subcategories.

Results: Twelve caregivers of school-aged children who take MC participated. The most common reasons for treatment were drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE), autism, or other developmental disorders. Approximately half of the participants' children (n = 6) took MC during the school day and most (5/6) perceived their experiences to be positive or neutral but reported a lack of knowledge about MC. While data saturation was not reached regarding MC in schools, rich dialogues were garnered about MC in general and three categories were identified: challenges (subcategories stigma, finding an authorizer, cost, dosing, and supply); parents as advocates (subcategories required knowledge, attitudes, skills, and sources of information); and caregiver relief for positive outcomes.

Conclusions: Caregivers demonstrate remarkable tenacity despite the many challenges associated with MC use. Education and practice change are needed to ensure that children using MC can benefit from or continue to experience its positive outcomes within the school environment and beyond.

Keywords: Caregiver; Education; Medical cannabis; School.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Kelly holds funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Cancer Society, and the SickKids Foundation for C4T. She holds a Mitacs Accelerate grant for a separate project in partnership with Canopy Growth who played no role in the design or funding provided to this project. Dr. Kelly has no financial conflicts of interest. Dr. Lougheed has received speaker’s honoraria and/or consulting fees from Spectrum Therapeutics, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, University of Ottawa, Syqe Medical, Aleafia Health, and Sanofi. Dr. Alcorn has participated on a advisory board for Zyus Life Sciences Inc. Dr. Anderson has received a speaker’s honoraria and/or consulting fees from Spectrum Therapeutics and C4T, and has participated on the Medcann Advisory Board. Dr. Huntsman is a co-chair of Health Canada’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Health Products Containing Cannabis whose views are not reflected in this manuscript. The other authors have no relevant conflicts of interest to disclose. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Overview of categories and subcategories pertaining to caregiver experiences with medical cannabis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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