Lebanese Pharmacists' Knowledge and Attitude toward Cannabis Medical Use Legality
Medical cannabis legalization in Lebanon has been a controversial issue. No research has been done to study the aspects of knowledge and attitudes toward its prescription in Lebanon. The primary objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge and attitude of Lebanese community pharmacis...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.lww.com/10.2991/dsahmj.k.200507.001 |
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| author | Lynne H. Jaffal Nathalie Lahoud Salam Zein Sanaa Awada Dalia Khachman |
| author_facet | Lynne H. Jaffal Nathalie Lahoud Salam Zein Sanaa Awada Dalia Khachman |
| author_sort | Lynne H. Jaffal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Medical cannabis legalization in Lebanon has been a controversial issue. No research has been done to study the aspects of knowledge and attitudes toward its prescription in Lebanon. The primary objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge and attitude of Lebanese community pharmacists toward its legalization. The secondary objective focused on identifying the predictors of their corresponding knowledge and attitude. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a sample of 233 Lebanese community pharmacists. A questionnaire comprising questions about sociodemographic details, knowledge, attitude, and preferences for getting information concerning medicinal cannabis was used for data collection over a period of 3 months. Four knowledge-related scores were computed, and descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analysis was performed using SPSS version 23 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). About 51% of pharmacists were considered to have a good level of knowledge. More than half of the community pharmacists had good knowledge about its uses, side effects, and interactions. Although only 44.7% supported cannabis legalization in Lebanon, 79.4% agreed that it should be present in prescriptions for certain indications. Moreover, associations were found between knowledge and experience, source of information, residence, and hours spent in pharmacy. Furthermore, attitude toward cannabis prescription is associated with residence, degree perceived, having patients that can benefit, and comfort to explain cannabis efficacy. Effective educational strategies should be implemented in Lebanon in order to improve knowledge regarding cannabis not only among pharmacists but the community as a whole, and thus aid in its proper use for therapeutic purposes rather than recreational uses. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0e20a59bd4ea4c5d87e788345b6561b0 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2666-819X 2590-3349 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-0e20a59bd4ea4c5d87e788345b6561b02025-08-20T03:03:16ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsDr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal2666-819X2590-33492020-09-012310611410.2991/dsahmj.k.200507.001Lebanese Pharmacists' Knowledge and Attitude toward Cannabis Medical Use LegalityLynne H. JaffalNathalie LahoudSalam ZeinSanaa AwadaDalia KhachmanMedical cannabis legalization in Lebanon has been a controversial issue. No research has been done to study the aspects of knowledge and attitudes toward its prescription in Lebanon. The primary objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge and attitude of Lebanese community pharmacists toward its legalization. The secondary objective focused on identifying the predictors of their corresponding knowledge and attitude. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a sample of 233 Lebanese community pharmacists. A questionnaire comprising questions about sociodemographic details, knowledge, attitude, and preferences for getting information concerning medicinal cannabis was used for data collection over a period of 3 months. Four knowledge-related scores were computed, and descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analysis was performed using SPSS version 23 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). About 51% of pharmacists were considered to have a good level of knowledge. More than half of the community pharmacists had good knowledge about its uses, side effects, and interactions. Although only 44.7% supported cannabis legalization in Lebanon, 79.4% agreed that it should be present in prescriptions for certain indications. Moreover, associations were found between knowledge and experience, source of information, residence, and hours spent in pharmacy. Furthermore, attitude toward cannabis prescription is associated with residence, degree perceived, having patients that can benefit, and comfort to explain cannabis efficacy. Effective educational strategies should be implemented in Lebanon in order to improve knowledge regarding cannabis not only among pharmacists but the community as a whole, and thus aid in its proper use for therapeutic purposes rather than recreational uses.https://journals.lww.com/10.2991/dsahmj.k.200507.001attitudecommunity pharmacistsknowledgelegalizationmedicinal cannabis |
| spellingShingle | Lynne H. Jaffal Nathalie Lahoud Salam Zein Sanaa Awada Dalia Khachman Lebanese Pharmacists' Knowledge and Attitude toward Cannabis Medical Use Legality Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal attitude community pharmacists knowledge legalization medicinal cannabis |
| title | Lebanese Pharmacists' Knowledge and Attitude toward Cannabis Medical Use Legality |
| title_full | Lebanese Pharmacists' Knowledge and Attitude toward Cannabis Medical Use Legality |
| title_fullStr | Lebanese Pharmacists' Knowledge and Attitude toward Cannabis Medical Use Legality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lebanese Pharmacists' Knowledge and Attitude toward Cannabis Medical Use Legality |
| title_short | Lebanese Pharmacists' Knowledge and Attitude toward Cannabis Medical Use Legality |
| title_sort | lebanese pharmacists knowledge and attitude toward cannabis medical use legality |
| topic | attitude community pharmacists knowledge legalization medicinal cannabis |
| url | https://journals.lww.com/10.2991/dsahmj.k.200507.001 |
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