Who Uses Medical Marijuana, And Why?

I came across an interesting article the other day that crunches some numbers about medical marijuana users in Nevada. Since Nevada is my home state, I was naturally interested. I know Nevada medical marijuana patients are only one piece of the pie, but these numbers still provide some valuable insight into who makes use of medical cannabis, and what they use it for.

According to the article, there are about 5,000 medical marijuana card holders in Nevada. Here are the numbers on the most common ways marijuana is used… The data includes people who may use cannabis for more than one symptom:

• 4,551 patients use cannabis to treat severe pain
• 964 are using it to control muscle spasms
• 851 patients use cannabis to treat severe nausea
• 204 patients use it as a way to help with their cancer

As you can see, the vast majority use cannabis for pain management. Those against medical cannabis might use this as fodder for the argument that people can just say they are in pain in order to get a medical card. After all, pain can’t really be diagnosed. While I’m sure there are some who have “worked” the system in this regard, there are also many who legitimately need cannabis to alleviate real pain.

We should focus on the good that medical cannabis can do, the relief it can bring, as well as a patient’s right to choose and a doctor’s to prescribe.