UC Irvine

In the evolving field of medicinal cannabis, there are many questions and concerns broached by patients to which health care providers cannot respond with anything other than anecdotal evidence. Many simple knowledge gaps persist due to barriers to high-quality research at the institutional and state levels: barriers that, in turn, stem from the federal designation of cannabis as an illegal substance. These perspectives of a California-based pain physician on the approach to the cannabis-curious pain patient highlight the necessity of a change in the classification of cannabis to streamline research as to the benefits and risks of this now ubiquitous substance.