EO Survey Shows 65% of Americans Would Use Cannabis If Guided by A Clinician

1,207 Americans recently partook in a EO Care, Inc., study. The company is “the first clinically guided cannabis health and wellness solution for employers,” (1). Participants in the study needed to be employed, either full-time or part-time, and reside in the US where cannabis is legal in most states for medical or recreational use.

According to EO’s press release (1), the key takeaways from the study are:

• 18 % of respondents have used cannabis for health reasons in the past year, 19 % have used cannabis for recreational reasons, and 14 % have used it for both.
• The top three reasons for their cannabis use are anxiety, pain, and sleep.
• 88 % of medical cannabis users say it reduced their use of prescription drugs, alcohol, or both.
• 51 % said they would be likely/very likely to use cannabis if it were offered by their health plan.
• 65 % of respondents said they would feel more comfortable using cannabis if it were screened and dosed by a clinician.

“Finding clinical guidance for medicinal cannabis is difficult because most doctors lack the knowledge and retail dispensaries are not equipped to provide medical advice,” said Sean Collins, co-founder and CEO of EO Care (1). “As a result, we have tens of millions of Americans using cannabis for health reasons without guidance on specific product recommendations, dosage amounts, possible drug interactions, or consideration of their health history and other potential health risks. Given that sales of cannabis for health reasons is far higher than most prescription drugs, this is a highly concerning situation for healthcare generally.”

Through EO Care, members are able to gain access to healthcare professionals through their employers that offer the program, who can create a personal cannabis care plan such as, what products to use and at what dose based on the patients’ medical history and needs (1). Through the clinician, they will also be put in contact with a member of local dispensaries who are able to fill the order. The most common conditions patients are seeking care for are chronic conditions. For example, cancer treatment symptoms such as nausea, neuropathic pain, seizure disorders, and Parkinson’s disease (1).

A part of the survey, employee sentiment related to employer cannabis policies was studied (1):

• 56 % of respondents said they would be more likely to take a job at a company whose health plan offered cannabis care.
• 44 % would reconsider applying for a job at a company that tested for prior use of cannabis use or prohibited cannabis outside of the workplace.

“94 % of Americans live in a state where cannabis is legal in some form,” mentioned Collins (1). “And we know a large percentage of Americans have used cannabis in the past year, so this is definitely impacting employees and health outcomes. With the right medicinal cannabis guidance employers have an opportunity to help their employees, improve health outcomes and be progressive leaders in offering this important benefit that employees will come to expect.”

Reference

1. New EO Care Survey of 1000+ Finds 18 Percent of Americans Use Cannabis for Health Reasons Today, but 65 Percent Would Use If Guided by a Clinician https://finance.yahoo.com/news/eo-care-survey-1000-finds-130000751.html (accessed Oct 25, 2023).