Because they cannabis.

No matter where you practice, patients are wondering about the use of marijuana during their cancer treatments. A study in Cancer this week takes a look at marijuana stats among cancer patients in the state of Washington, where recreational marijuana is legal. An astounding three-quarters of respondents were interested in getting information about marijuana from their physicians. Overall, 24% had used marijuana over the past year with 75% of those using at least weekly. Among users, 70% inhaled, 70% ingested, and an overlapping 40% did both. An interesting observation was that legalization was deemed the main driver for most patients to start using--as opposed to another recent study reporting recents spikes in marijuana use are independent of legalization status. In any case, as marijuana grows (literally and figuratively) across the US, it is likely that as many as a quarter of cancer patients in your state could start using it. And we think oncologists should be prepared to counsel patients with the best available evidence, regardless of the outcomes of ensuing congressional Sessions.