| Title | Doctor-Recommended Cannabis Use in the Era of Legalization: Trends from California (2019–2024) |
| Authors | Jamie Corroon, ND, MPH; Igor Grant, MD |
| Year | 2026 |
| Journal | Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research |
Drs. Jamie Corroon and Igor Grant, Director of the CMCR, recently published a short report in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research examining how doctor-recommended cannabis use has changed in California during the era of adult-use legalization and commercialization. Using data from the California Health Interview Survey, the study analyzed responses from more than 178,000 adults between 2017 and 2024, with a focus on doctor-recommended cannabis use from 2019 through 2024.
The central finding was that doctor-recommended cannabis use declined sharply among Californians who used cannabis in the past month. In 2019, 18.5% of past-month cannabis users reported that at least some of their use had been recommended by a doctor or health care provider. By 2024, that figure had fallen to 8.5%. In contrast, overall past-month cannabis use remained essentially stable over the same period.
This pattern suggests that legalization may have influenced how people use cannabis for health-related reasons. Before adult-use legalization, a medical recommendation was often necessary to legally obtain cannabis. After recreational sales began, adults could purchase cannabis without involving a clinician, potentially reducing the practical value of maintaining a formal medical designation.
The findings also align with reports from other states showing declines in medical cannabis registry participation after recreational legalization. Taken together, these trends suggest that adult-use markets may be displacing more formal channels of medical cannabis access, even among people who may still be using cannabis for symptom management or other health-related purposes.
The authors emphasize that this shift has important clinical and public-health implications. Cannabis products vary widely in composition, dosing, and method of administration, and patients with complex medical conditions may be especially likely to benefit from clinician guidance. If medically motivated users increasingly rely on the recreational marketplace, they may do so without adequate counseling about potential benefits, risks, contraindications, drug interactions, or safer use practices.
At the same time, the study has important limitations. Doctor-recommended use does not capture all medical or health-related cannabis use, since many people may use cannabis for symptoms without a formal recommendation. The study also cannot prove that legalization caused the decline. Still, the results raise a timely concern: as cannabis access expands, clinical infrastructure may need to keep pace so that patients who use cannabis for health reasons are not left to navigate the marketplace on their own.
Read the full manuscript here.
Citation: Corroon J, Grant I. Doctor-Recommended Cannabis Use in the Era of Legalization: Trends from California (2019–2024). Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. 2026;0(0). doi:10.1177/25785125261452930