Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-8-2024

Comments

This article is the author’s final published version in Cancer, Volume 130, Issue 4, February 2024, Pages 487-648.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fcncr.35115. Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Cancer Society.

Publication made possible in part by support through a transformative agreement between Thomas Jefferson University and the publisher.

Abstract

There is growing interest in cannabis use for cancer pain. This commentary aims to discuss the evidence surrounding cannabis use for cancer pain in the context of the long-racialized landscape of cannabis policies and the disparity in pain control among cancer patients holding minoritized racial identities. Much evidence surrounding both the benefits and harms of cannabis use in cancer patients, and all patients in general, is lacking. Although drawing on the research in cancer that is available, it is also important to illustrate the broader context about how cannabis' deep roots in medical, political, and social history impact patient use and health care policies. There are lessons we can learn from the racialized disparities in opioid risk mitigation strategies, so they are not replicated in the settings of cannabis for cancer symptom management. Additionally, the authors intentionally use the term "cannabis" here rather than "marijuana.: In the early 1900s, the lay press and government popularized the use of the word "marijuana" instead of the more common "cannabis" to tie the drug to anti-Mexican prejudice.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

37941524

Language

English

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