An anonymous survey with 2841 participants conducted by investigators of Aarhus University, Denmark, confirms previous research that cannabis is often used as substitution for other medications. The sample was recruited through social media, public media, and patient organizations. Cannabis was prescribed or non-prescribed and used with medicinal purposes. More than a half (55%) had used cannabis with the purpose of replacing a prescribed drug.
Compared to non-substitution users, substitution users were more likely to be women and to use cannabis in the treatment of chronic pain and other somatic conditions. Pain medication (67%), antidepressants (25%), and arthritis medication (21%) were the most common types of drugs replaced with cannabis. Authors wrote that “more than half (65.8%) found CaM much more effective compared to prescription drugs, and 85.5% that the side effects associated with prescription drug use were much worse compared to use of CaM.”
https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-021-00520-5
