Utilization of medicinal hemp: a qualitative analysis of clinicians’ perspectives in Ghana

TL;DR

This study explores Ghanaian clinicians' perspectives on medicinal hemp use and its legalization, highlighting factors like knowledge, policy, and stigma.

Contribution

The study provides insights from Ghanaian clinicians, expanding the global understanding of medicinal hemp beyond high-income countries.

Findings

Clinicians' perspectives on medicinal hemp are shaped by socio-political factors like policy and stigma.

Themes identified include clinical use, stigma, non-prescription practices, and regulatory challenges.

Participants included physicians from specialties like anaesthesiology, oncology, and neurology.

Abstract

Previous studies have explored the perspectives of health care professionals on the use of medicinal hemp, but they were mostly situated in high income countries. This study sets out to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of health care professionals regarding the use of hemp in clinical therapy vis-à-vis the legislative framework in Ghana.

To explore the perspectives of physicians on the use of medicinal hemp and its legalization in Ghana.

A qualitative study employing purposive sampling and face-to-face in-depth interviews was conducted among twenty (20) physicians practicing in Ghana. The interviewees were selected based on specialty and scope of practice. The in-depth interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed using the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Twenty (20) clinicians participated in the study. Fourteen (14) respondents were male and six (6) were female. The medical specialties of the interviewees were anaesthesiology, oncology, neurology, and orthopaedics. The identified themes include clinical use, stigma (sociocultural classification of cannabis), clinical non-prescription, policy landscape and regulatory control.

Prescribers’ intention to recommend medicinal hemp is influenced by a complex interplay of various socio-political factors such as knowledge, policy, cultural environment, and stigma.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s42238-025-00271-1.

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