{"doi":"10.1111/dar.70063","title":"Demographic Predictors of Medicinal Cannabis Users' Perceived Level of Physician Support for Medicinal Cannabis Prescriptions in New Zealand","abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Studies indicate that access to prescribed medicinal cannabis (MC) is influenced by demographic factors, though few have explored the roles of ethnicity and income. Patients' perceptions of physician support for MC may be an important barrier. New Zealand implemented a legal MC scheme in 2020. This paper aimed to identify demographic predictors of accessing an MC prescription and perceptions of physician support for MC.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>An anonymous online survey (New Zealand Drug Trends Survey), promoted via Meta was completed by 10,781 New Zealanders aged 16+ years in 2024. This paper focuses on 1742 respondents who used cannabis primarily for medicinal purposes in the previous 6 months. Logistic regression models predicted obtaining MC prescriptions, perceived physician refusal to prescribe, and perceptions of physician support.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Mental health (73.8%), sleep (71.6%) and pain (59.5%) were most treated with MC. Two‐fifths of female MC users (41.5%) were treating women's health conditions. MC prescriptions were less common among females, Māori, Pacific Peoples, lower income‐earners (≤ $60,000) and those treating substance dependency. Individuals aged 60+ years, tertiary educated, with a medical diagnosis, earning $60,001+, treating sleep, gastrointestinal, neurological, or mental health were more likely to be MC prescription holders. Younger individuals, not employed, Māori or Pacific were more likely\n                      <jats:italic>not</jats:italic>\n                      to request a MC prescription because of anticipated refusal. Older MC prescription holders perceived more support from physicians for MC use.\n                    </jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion and Conclusions</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Ethnic, gender and socio‐economic disparities limit access to\n                      <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">MC</jats:styled-content>\n                      prescriptions. Improving equitable access to legal\n                      <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">MC</jats:styled-content>\n                      requires greater support for open patient‐physician conversations about\n                      <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">MC</jats:styled-content>\n                      use.\n                    </jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>","journal":"Drug and Alcohol Review","year":2026,"id":629094,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1629098,"name":"Chris Wilkins","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1629099,"name":"Karl Parker","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1629100,"name":"Marta Rychert","orcid":"0000-0003-4170-1615","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1629097,"name":"Vinuli Withanarachchie","orcid":"0000-0002-6408-5950","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Demographic Predictors of Medicinal Cannabis Users' Perceived Level of Physician Support for Medicinal Cannabis Prescriptions in New Zealand","abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Studies indicate that access to prescribed medicinal cannabis (MC) is influenced by demographic factors, though few have explored the roles of ethnicity and income. Patients' perceptions of physician support for MC may be an important barrier. New Zealand implemented a legal MC scheme in 2020. This paper aimed to identify demographic predictors of accessing an MC prescription and perceptions of physician support for MC.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>An anonymous online survey (New Zealand Drug Trends Survey), promoted via Meta was completed by 10,781 New Zealanders aged 16+ years in 2024. This paper focuses on 1742 respondents who used cannabis primarily for medicinal purposes in the previous 6 months. Logistic regression models predicted obtaining MC prescriptions, perceived physician refusal to prescribe, and perceptions of physician support.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Mental health (73.8%), sleep (71.6%) and pain (59.5%) were most treated with MC. Two‐fifths of female MC users (41.5%) were treating women's health conditions. MC prescriptions were less common among females, Māori, Pacific Peoples, lower income‐earners (≤ $60,000) and those treating substance dependency. Individuals aged 60+ years, tertiary educated, with a medical diagnosis, earning $60,001+, treating sleep, gastrointestinal, neurological, or mental health were more likely to be MC prescription holders. Younger individuals, not employed, Māori or Pacific were more likely\n                      <jats:italic>not</jats:italic>\n                      to request a MC prescription because of anticipated refusal. Older MC prescription holders perceived more support from physicians for MC use.\n                    </jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion and Conclusions</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Ethnic, gender and socio‐economic disparities limit access to\n                      <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">MC</jats:styled-content>\n                      prescriptions. Improving equitable access to legal\n                      <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">MC</jats:styled-content>\n                      requires greater support for open patient‐physician conversations about\n                      <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">MC</jats:styled-content>\n                      use.\n                    </jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"41158035","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W4415651077","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"Health Research Council of New Zealand","grant_id":"HRC‐23‐244","title":null},{"funder_name":"Health Research Council of New Zealand","grant_id":"HRC-23-244","title":null}],"total_grants":2,"fwci":0.0,"citation_percentile":0.30350257,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[],"oa_status":"closed","license":"http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/tdm_license_1.1","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/dar.70063","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/dar.70063","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.70063","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41158035","host_type":"repository"}],"fields_of_study":["Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research","Opioid Use Disorder Treatment","Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes","Humans","New Zealand","Female","Male","Middle Aged","Adult","Medical Marijuana","Young Adult","Adolescent","Aged","Surveys and Questionnaires","Physicians","Drug Prescriptions"],"mesh_terms":["Adolescent","Adult","Aged","Female","Humans","Male","Middle Aged","New Zealand","Physicians","Drug Prescriptions","Surveys and Questionnaires","Young Adult","Medical Marijuana"],"keywords":["Medical prescription","Cannabis","Substance use","Prescription drug","Cannabis Dependence","Prescription Drug Misuse","Women's Health","Female Patients","Medical Cannabis","Physician Support","Physician‐patient","Healthcare Attitudes"],"sdg_mappings":[],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-05T16:44:35.140336Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}