WEDNESDAY, Aug. 17, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer patients who use cannabis to relieve pain and improve appetite may be getting bad advice from dispensary staff, a new study suggests.

Doctors usually offer only spotty advice about pot to their patients and, although well-intentioned, staff at many cannabis dispensaries aren't well-versed or trained in what advice to give, the researchers said.

"If other studies replicate our results, then the medical establishment may need to standardize their approach to medical cannabis care in order to satisfy this widespread unmet need," said researcher Dr. llana Braun, chief of adult psychosocial oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston.

While the investigators found that workers were dedicated, their level of knowledge about the therapeutic use of cannabis was inconsistent. In many cases, dispensaries hire people for their selling skills, not their expertise in cannabis therapeutics. The researchers also found that dispensaries offered little or weak training on cannabis therapeutics.

Yet patients rely on the advice they get from dispensary staff, because many doctors say they don't feel qualified to offer advice about medical pot, research shows. In a previous study, Braun's team found that 80% of oncologists surveyed discussed medical cannabis with patients, but only 30% felt qualified to offer recommendations for its use.

"We know from other scientific studies that some physicians don’t consider themselves...

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