There are nearly 4 million patients registered to use medical marijuana under state laws in the U.S., as well as at least 35,000 doctors and clinicians approved to recommend it and nearly 110,000 caregivers authorized to assist patients in growing and obtaining cannabis products, according to a pair of new studies published by the American College of Physicians.
The number of Americans who are registered under state medical marijuana programs more than quintupled from about 747,000 in 2016 to approximately 3.9 million in 2024—though patient registration has “flattened since 2022, likely influenced by the growing number of jurisdictions with recreational cannabis laws,” one of the papers published in the Annals of Internal Medicine said.
The researchers with the University of Michigan said that declining growth in medical marijuana patient registrations in recent years is likely tied to many states enacting broader adult-use legalization laws.
“Decreased patient enrollment in recreational jurisdictions may result from patients opting out due to licensing fees or inconvenience, privacy concerns, and their use of recreational products for medical purposes without licensure,” they said.
Chronic pain was the most common qualifying condition for state-registered medical marijuana patients, accounting for 65 percent of all patient-reported conditions, followed by
Read full article on Marijuana Moment
