Study: Medical Cannabis Cancer Patients See ‘Significant’ Symptom Reduction

Researchers at the Minnesota Department of Health found that cancer patients enrolled in the state’s medical cannabis report “significant reduction” in the severity of symptoms in the first four months of cannabis treatment, according to a WCCO report.

The two-year study uses self-reported data from 1,120 cancer patients enrolled in the state’s medical cannabis program before and after cannabis treatment. According to the study, 27 percent of the patients achieved 30 percent or greater symptom reduction of fatigue, while half experienced less vomiting. Just over 10 percent reported side effects such as dry mouth, fatigue, and increased appetite.

“Medical cannabis was well tolerated, and some patients attained clinically meaningful and lasting levels of improvement,” concludes the report, which was published in the Journal of Oncology Practice.

According to Jan. 2019 state health department data 1,300 of the state’s 14,481 enrolled patients have a cancer diagnosis. Separately, the health department found in 2016 that 60 percent of program participants found “a high degree of benefit from medical cannabis.”