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For us at HelloMD, the medical cannabis industry is an exciting and fascinating business to be in. Every day we leave the office knowing that we are improving people's lives and helping further the cause for mainstream acceptance of this amazing plant. In the short time since we’ve been providing our service (one year) we’ve witnessed a positive shift in how the broader population perceive the legal cannabis market. The collective contribution of the industry has performed a remarkable feat in changing attitudes and in moving us from back-alley to the main street.
We have come far. Yet, for anyone entering the industry, indeed for anyone in it, it can still be difficult finding information to help plan and grow a business. Very little is published indicating patient preferences, methods of use, reasons for use, etc. Most in the industry are planning products and services based upon small sample sets of anecdotal data and intuition. Not that there is anything wrong with that. After all, we did that. But if that’s all you’ve got, then it’s really difficult to identify trends and to plan ahead.
That is why, in January of this year, we conducted a detailed study of patients that use medical marijuana.
Download the medical marijuana patient study here.
We believe it to be the most comprehensive study to date and we are very pleased to share it with the community at large. Our methodology included surveying our membership of 17,000 patients (all of whom have been evaluated by our own doctors), correlating with other data sets (public and private), analyzing, and then using the results to form key findings. Thanks to our friends at FireFly (of whom generously donated 5 of their beautiful vaporizers as an incentive to participants) we had an exceptional response of over 1,400 patients. Anonymously, every one of them answered an extensive questionnaire that detailed their own experience and details regarding conditions leading to use, modes of use, efficacy, and much more.
All this data led to key findings and learning's that helped us understand:
- The demographic of patients using medical marijuana today, and how it has been changing overtime
- Conditions being treating with medical cannabis
- How effective cannabis is as a treatment modality
- How patients feel about using cannabis as an alternative, or as a compliment, to other more-traditional prescribed pharmaceuticals
- How, or if, patients talk about their use of cannabis among family, friends and colleagues.
- Where medical cannabis purchases are made
- Where patients obtain education and knowledge of medical cannabis
Perhaps the most surprising finding; an emerging demographic that, indisputably, is eclipsing the recreational demographic. This has all sorts of implications – politically and otherwise.
We have compiled all findings into a report that can be downloaded as a PDF here.
