Colorado Medical Students’ Attitudes and Beliefs About Marijuana

Michael H. Chan, Christopher E. Knoepke, Madeline L. Cole, James McKinnon, Daniel D. Matlock

Over the past two decades, state and local governments across the U.S. have been increasingly reforming marijuana laws. Despite growing support for marijuana as a medical treatment, little is known about medical students' perceptions of marijuana use. To assess Colorado medical students' personal and professional opinions on current and future marijuana use in a healthcare setting. A voluntary, anonymous, online cross-sectional survey. Medical students (n = 624) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine between January and February 2014 were invited to participate. Numerical responses were quantified using counts and percentages, and Likert scale responses were collapsed for bivariate analysis. Items were gathered thematically and additively scored for each subscale. Internal consistency reliability statistics were calculated for each subscale to ensure that items were assessing similar constructs. Unadjusted t tests and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to calculate mean differences in subscale scores between subgroups. We received 236 responses (37%). Students indicated support for marijuana legalization (64%), and few believed that physicians should be penalized for recommending marijuana to patients (6%). Nearly all (97%) believed that further marijuana research should be conducted, and believed marijuana could play a role in the treatment of various medical conditions. Seventy-seven percent reported that they believed marijuana use had the potential for psychological harm, and 68% indicated concern for potential physical harm. Only a minority of students would recommend marijuana to a patient under current law (29%), or if it were legally available (45%). Acceptability of marijuana for treatment of approved conditions was not correlated with age or gender, but was positively correlated with living in Colorado prior to medical school (p < 0.001) and with prior marijuana use (p < 0.001). Medical students support marijuana legal reform, medicinal uses of marijuana, and increased research, but have concerns regarding risks of marijuana use, and appear hesitant to recommend marijuana to patients.