• Stephanie C Tung, Manan M Nayak, Peter R Chai, James Tulsky, Timothy S Sannes, Miryam Yusufov, and Ilana M Braun.
• Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, Dana-Faber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
• J Palliat Med. 2022 Sep 1; 25 (9): 1418-1421.

AbstractBackground: Patients with cancer employ medicinal cannabis for poly-symptom management and as cancer-directed therapy. Little is known about their perspectives on the medicinal cannabis "high." Methods: Qualitative interviews across eight states with medicinal cannabis users with physician-verified cancer diagnoses (n = 24). Results: Every participant referenced and 15 spoke in depth about the medicinal cannabis "high." Antitheticals characterized it: sleepiness versus heightened attention; calm versus "agitation." The intensity of the "high" served as a proxy metric by which participant's judged medicinal cannabis' cancer-directed therapy and symptom management efficacies. Overall, however, study participants viewed the "high" as a barrier to medicinal cannabis use and worked to avoid experiencing for prolonged periods. Conclusions: The "high" is central to the manner with which patients with cancer experience medicinal cannabis. Clinicians should be aware that patients may struggle to fine-tune medicinal cannabis dosing in the setting of the "high," and this challenge should be included in clinical discussions regarding oncological medicinal cannabis use.

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