Close to 90% of patients who enrolled in the program for the first time between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2017 made at least one medical cannabis purchase within their first enrollment year. Most commonly purchased products across all transactions were inhaled products, followed by enteral, oromucosal, and topical products (topical products became available summer 2016). Products very high in THC to CBD made up the highest proportion of purchases by THC:CBD ratio, followed by THC:CBD balanced products. Balanced products followed by very high THC:CBD products were most commonly purchased in pill/capsule form (enteral), while the reverse was true for vaporized and oromucosal products.
Medical Cannabis Use Patterns: Patients with First
▪ N = 6513 out of 7294 (89.3% of cohort) purchased MC products within first enrollment year ▪ Total purchasing transactions: 50,086
▪ Total products purchased in transactions (sum of unique products purchased across all transactions): 83,979
▪ 23,674 out of 50,066 (47.3%) purchasing transactions were for purchases of multiple products
Figure 1. Product Purchases Stratified by Route of Administration (n = 83979).
Box 1. Definitions of THC:CBD Product Ratios.
Product Classifications Based on THC to CBD Content:
Very High THC to CBD = 100:1 or higher
High THC to CBD = >4:1 up to 99:1
Balanced = 1:1 up to 4:1 THC:CBD
High CBD to THC = ≥1:1 up to 99:1
Very High CBD to THC = 100:1 or higher
Figure 2. Product Purchases Stratified by Product’s THC:CBD Ratio (n = 83979).
Figure 3. Product Purchases Stratified by Route of Administration and Product’s THC:CBD Ratio (n = 83979).
