Illinois Medical Cannabis Patient Experience Study Data Released

The Illinois Medical Cannabis Patient Experience Study data has been released. Aclara Research conducted the study in the state for the first time since the inception of the state’s medical marijuana program. The study includes data from 300 of Illinois’ 18,000 patients.

Of those responding, 86-percent says they use medical marijuana for chronic pain management, according to Aclara Research. Chronic pain, however, is not one of Illinois’ 41 qualifying conditions. It is, however, an underlying symptom in several of the state’s qualifying conditions.

Important findings include:

• Women are 50-percent more likely to have chronic pain, sleep difficulties, anxiety and pain in the back, joints or general body aches
• Roughly 33-percent of respondents stopped using pharmaceuticals
• About 92-percent reduced the number of pharmaceuticals taken
• Twenty-two percent had never used marijuana before
• CBD is used by 47-percent of patients daily, with women leading the pack at 75-percent of that group

An interesting fact is that nearly half of the state’s patients make less than $40K/year and spend $3,000 or more per year on medical marijuana.

Illinois has one of the most difficult programs to gain approval for due to application restrictions and requirements.

Carmen Brace of Aclara Research said, “We are excited to be the first to conduct the largest study of Illinois patients since the inception of the pilot program. We will continue to build strong partnerships within the state and other markets to provide our clients with insights that lead to consumer-centric product innovation and business strategies across medical use markets.”