Knowledge and Opinions towards Medical Cannabis among Public Hospital Pharmacists

Abstract

Objective: To determine knowledge, opinions and factors related to knowledge and opinions towards medical cannabis among pharmacists working in public hospitals. Method: This cross-sectional descriptive research was conducted by sending mail questionnaires to 2,110 pharmacists working in public hospitals nationwide during June to July 2020 to collect the data on their knowledge and opinions about medical cannabis. Results: The subjects completed and returned 684 questionnaires (32.4%). Most of them were female (70.8%) with an average age of 37.4±8.2 years. 56.6% of them had been working in the service team of medical cannabis clinic. 67.8% of them had attended training on medical cannabis. Pharmacists had an average score of knowledge on medical cannabis at 10.9±1.9 out of 15 points. Mean score on opinion towards medical cannabis was 2.9±0.6 out of 5, with 49% being uncertain about the use of medical cannabis. Factors significantly influencing knowledge about medical cannabis were hospital type (P=0.046), public health regions (P=0.014), being pilot hospitals for medical cannabis (P=0.046), the presence of medical cannabis clinic (P=0.032), and attendance of training in medical cannabis. Factors significantly influencing the opinions towards the use of medical cannabis were duration of working (P=0.016) and public health region in which the subjects worked (P=0.007) Conclusion: Most pharmacists had an adequate knowledge on medicinal cannabis, but were still uncertain about the use of medical cannabis due to concerns about its social impact.