Innovation update: Broadening the cannabis discussion

Community pharmacists in Canada will soon be able to access the Cannabis Care Guide for Pharmacists, which was well-received by pharmacists and patients alike when piloted in community pharmacies.

Beth Sproule

With funding from CFP’s Innovation Fund, Dr. Beth Sproule and her team developed the Cannabis Care Guide for Pharmacists in response to growing evidence of the widespread use of cannabis among Canadians. Avery Loi, a University of Toronto graduate student Sproule was supervising at the time, piloted the guide with four community pharmacists in Ontario for three months, with telling results.

Using the guide, pharmacists in the pilot screened almost 150 people and found that 32% were currently using cannabis.

Of those, 62% agreed to participate in a consultation, which revealed that almost half were using a prescription medication for the same reason they were using cannabis.

“That was the biggest surprise for me and validated why there is a need for this guide,” says Sproule, a scientist at the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto’s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. “It also raises questions about why their prescriptions aren’t working well enough and if their prescribers know they are using them with cannabis.”

The pilot also revealed that pharmacists felt more confident and empowered using the guide, and patients appreciated the non-biased information. “As our project showed, when pharmacists ask the question, patients respond and are appreciative,” says Sproule.

The findings have been compiled into a report for journal publication, and the team is working to provide the guide in various formats, including a free continuing education lesson and webinar available to pharmacists later this year. “The ultimate goal is to have it integrated into the pharmacy’s electronic system so pharmacists can just use that and document these consultations as they would other things,” she says.

Sproule says the guide will be freely available on CAMH’s website and posted on other educational sites for pharmacists as well.

The idea for the Cannabis Care Guide for Pharmacists was first initiated by pharmacist Laura Murphy (now deceased) who was a graduate student of Sproule’s. “This really came out of her practice work in a pain clinic where there were lots of questions from patients considering or already using cannabis,” says Sproule. “She developed a flow in her practice on how to work with patients in this area and thought it could be useful for pharmacists generally.”