Los Angeles, CA: Women are more likely than men to express a preference for edible medical cannabis products, and for products with explicit ratios of THC to CBD, according to survey data compiled by the healthcare technology company Veriheal.
Researchers analyzed survey responses from a convenience sample of medical cannabis patients in the Veriheal database. Data was obtained from patients throughout the United States over a one-year period. Patients ranged in age from 18 to 85, with a majority of subjects falling between the ages of 25 and 29.
Female survey respondents were more likely to express interest in trying edible formulations of cannabis. According to the survey’s results, 71 percent of women expressed a preference for edible products. By contrast, 81 percent of men expressed a preference for cannabis flower.
More women than men also expressed interest in products containing both THC and CBD. While one-third of female respondents said that they preferred products with specific THC/CBD ratios, only around one-quarter of male respondents did so.
Men and women were nearly equally likely to seek out cannabis in order to improve sleep and reduce chronic pain. Women were nearly twice as likely as men to report using cannabis to mitigate symptoms of nausea.
“This study demonstrates the complexity of decisions made by medical patients when choosing a route of administration for cannabis products. The preference for cannabis edibles in women is evident, and the factors contributing to this preference are varied,” authors concluded. “Societal stigmas which influence women in their cannabis consumption choices may become outdated as society begins to accept cannabis as medicine. An increased use of cannabis as medicine is likely to lead to more oral formulations as a parallel to or part of the pharmaceutical industry. While oral consumption may have stark differences from smoking, its popularity seems to be increasing, and women are apt to support their growth in the adult use market.”
Full text of the survey, “Veriheal’s Annual Medical Cannabis Preference Report,” is available.
Source: NORML – make a donation