Details
Recent studies among U.S. older adults showed increases in cannabis-related healthcare encounters, with the highest rates in states that legalized adult and medical cannabis use. To understand how increased cannabis access results in healthcare encounters among younger adults, a study was conducted to assess temporal trends in cannabis-related healthcare encounters among commercially insured adults aged 18-64 years.
A descriptive study using administrative claims from four national health insurers contributing to the US Food and Drug Administration’s Sentinel Distributed Database was conducted. Healthcare encounters with evidence of cannabis use, cannabis-related disorder, or poisoning from 2017 through 2022, were defined using ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes. Annual encounter rates, overall, by care setting, age group, and state/territory cannabis legal status were assessed. Analyses were conducted in 2023-24.