Medical Cannabis Facilities

Since California voters approved medical cannabis for use in 1996, most discussions surrounding it have involved either its biomedical or legal status. Left out of the discussion has been how medical cannabis patients developed a health service system of medical cannabis administration and what a best practice model of medical cannabis distribution might look like. This study surveyed 130 medical cannabis patients at 7 medical cannabis facilities in San Francisco and Berkeley, CA using an adapted version of Andersen's model of health service utilization. Results show that medical cannabis patients have created a system of dispensing medical cannabis that also includes services such as counseling, entertainment and support groups; all important components of coping with chronic illness. Levels of satisfaction with facility care were fairly high, did not differ across study site and were significantly higher than nationally reported satisfaction with health care. This book is intended for those involved in social service creation, management and delivery, as this approach has implications for the creation and maintenance of a continuum of care among bottom-up social and health services agencies.