Variation in medical marijuana program regulations impacts enrollment
More than one million people participate in medical marijuana programs in the United States. The study analyzed the extent to which medical marijuana laws and program regulations incorporate accepted medical practice, good pharmaceutical manufacturing practices as established by the FDA, and restrictions on controlled substances. The authors evaluated the strength of the association between the medicalization of each marijuana program and its enrollment rate, and assessed state-specific characteristics such as the number of physicians per capita, the burden of terminal disease, medical marijuana costs, and rates of recreational marijuana use. The study found that laws initiated before 2009, primarily those in western states passed by voter initiative, depart the most from the medical model. The more recent programs in the midwest and northeast typically required years of work at the state level to move from the initial passage of a law to full implementation of a state-licensed m...