Understanding cannabis use in people with health conditions in the UK
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding cannabis use in people with health conditions in the UK
IRAS ID
319512
Contact name
Sara Tai
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 27 days
Research summary
Cannabis has been used around the world for thousands of years. In the last thirty years there has been renewed interest among researchers in the medicinal use of cannabis. This has led to medical cannabis being made legal in lots of countries. In the UK, cannabis for medicinal purposes was made legal in November 2018.
In the UK, medical cannabis can only be prescribed by specially trained doctors for specific conditions, such as multiple sclerosis. So, not many people can get it prescribed from their doctor. Lots of people still use cannabis, sourcing it illegally. On estimate, more than 4% of people with cancer use cannabis without a prescription.The experiences of people with cancer who use cannabis has never been explored in the UK, although some studies have been conducted in other countries. Users have said that they use cannabis to help with lots of symptoms of cancer and side effects. But they also had some worries, such as being unsure how safe cannabis is.
Unfortunately, no research has explored the experiences of people with cancer who use cannabis without a prescription in the UK. Our goal is to gain an understanding of their experiences and their reasons for using cannabis.
To do this we aim to interview 20 people. The interviews will be about an hour each. We invite users to be interviewed, advertising through social media and cancer charities and services. We will record and write up the interviews. We will then explore what people have told us and look for patterns in their experiences.
This might help us to understand peoples experiences of using cannabis, including any positive and negative experiences. We also want to understand if cannabis has affects that are different to current cancer treatments.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0214
Date of REC Opinion
21 Apr 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion