Tetra Bio-Pharma recently released the results of an IPSOS survey conducted among more than 2000 Canadians about their attitudes, behaviours, opinions, beliefs and knowledge about cannabis as a therapeutic option. As a company working tirelessly to discover and develop cannabinoid-derived products to help solve unmet medical needs, how well we understand the market is critically important.

Do Quebecers believe that pharmaceutical cannabis is of a better quality than recreational products? Are they open to participating in a Health Canada clinical trial investigating a cannabis drug? Will insurance coverage have an impact on whether they would take a cannabis medicine? Would they take a cannabis drug for an existing medical condition? Do they believe that their doctor would prescribe a cannabis drug? We asked these questions and more both within Quebec and across the country.

The larger than usual sample that IPSOS used for this survey offers up statistically significant data and regional differences that shed light on how receptive people are to considering cannabis as a medical therapy and whether they believe that it will do more good than harm. Drug development within a regulatory framework is not ambiguous, but very clear and specific in nature. With lots of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, we know how this works, including the occasional bumps in the road. But when it comes to how individuals and their healthcare professionals will look at a new class of medicine, with a drug that has been surrounded by so much stigma, there is a great deal to learn.

The IPSOS survey seems to indicate that physicians will need to become better educated and trained in treating their patients with cannabinoid-derived medicines, something that is considered by the experts to be quite complex. I imagine that doctors will also be expected to spend time counselling their patients, creating even more of a demand on their time. Bringing an entirely new class of medicines to patients is a very exciting opportunity, but it also comes with tremendous responsibility in terms of supporting patient education and awareness and medical education. The emergence of cannabinoid-derived medicines that are scientifically shown to be safe and effective through clinical trials will require a quantum shift in our thinking and behaviours about cannabinoid-derived therapies.

The IPSOS research provided us with a better understanding of how open Canadians are to take a cannabis medicine and revealed how important a role their doctor plays in shaping their own behaviour. Plain and simple – most of us trust what a doctor recommends. This level of confidence has been nurtured over hundreds of years. Interestingly though, the survey shows that even though there’s a high degree of trust in doctors, respondents are not entirely certain that they are well enough informed about cannabis. This suggests that before cannabis drugs are effectively integrated into the healthcare system, healthcare professionals need to become better educated and trained, as they would have to do for any other new class of pharmaceuticals. This makes a lot of sense.

While Tetra commissioned this study, we are very happy to share what we’ve learned.

Sooner rather than later the doctors we trust will have the cannabis medicines they can trust. These drugs will meet the standards required by Health Canada, medical associations and insurers and help open access to cannabinoid-derived medications for numerous medical conditions. That will be a game-changer.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2019/26/c6186.html