Medical Cannabis Facilities

Since California voters approved medical cannabis for use in 1996 mostdiscussions surrounding it have involved either its biomedical or legal status.Left out of the discussion has been how medical cannabis patients developeda health service system of medical cannabis administration and what a bestpractice model of medical cannabis distribution might look like. This studysurveyed 130 medical cannabis patients at 7 medical cannabis facilities in SanFrancisco and Berkeley CA using an adapted version of Andersen's model ofhealth service utilization. Results show that medical cannabis patients havecreated a system of dispensing medical cannabis that also includes servicessuch as counseling entertainment and support groups; all important componentsof coping with chronic illness. Levels of satisfaction with facility carewere fairly high did not differ across study site and were significantly higherthan nationally reported satisfaction with health care. This book is intendedfor those involved in social service creation management and delivery as thisapproach has implications for the creation and maintenance of a continuumof care among bottom-up social and health services agencies.