The cannabis plant has always possessed medical benefits. It is why the father of Chinese medicine, Emperor Shen Neng, listed cannabis in his famed pharmacopoeia thousands of years ago. Humans used cannabis for health and wellness purposes for centuries, and it was only in the 1900s that politicians and special interest groups pushed to prohibit cannabis use for medical purposes, with the United States leading the charge for global prohibition.

Cannabis became prohibited at the federal level in the United States after the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, including cannabis use for medical purposes. The basis for federal cannabis prohibition in the U.S. would eventually evolve with the passage of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The Act designated cannabis as a Schedule I substance, describing it as having “no currently accepted medical use.”

For most of the 1900s, medical cannabis was considered to be taboo in the U.S. medical community despite patients continuing to harness the cannabis plant for its health and wellness benefits. It wasn’t until 1996 when California voters approved Proposition 215 that medical cannabis laws started to be modernized. The historic vote in California in 1996 ushered in a new era for medical cannabis in the United States, with most states having since adopted their own medical cannabis legalization measures.

A team of health researchers affiliated with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Baylor College of Medicine recently conducted an anonymous, cross-sectional web-based survey of U.S. healthcare professionals to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and concerns about medical cannabis in clinical settings. The survey results were published in the Journal of Cannabis Research.

A total of 879 healthcare professionals responded to the survey, including mental health professionals, registered nurses, physicians, and advanced practice providers. Among the survey respondents, 89% of them reported that they treat patients who use cannabis.

“Participants rated their self-reported knowledge highest for cannabis’s risks (mean = 4.1/5), followed by therapeutic indications (mean = 4.0/5), and mechanisms of action (mean = 3.5/5). In contrast, objective knowledge check scores were generally low across these domains (13–64% correct). Personal experience (76%) and popular media (73%) were the most endorsed sources of cannabis-related knowledge.” the researchers found.

“Overall, most respondents (87%) endorsed the therapeutic promise of cannabis, 74% reported openness to recommending medical cannabis, and 95% supported its legal medical use.” the researchers wrote.

That level of support for medical cannabis is significant and particularly encouraging within the United States’ professional healthcare community, given the history of medical cannabis stigma and opposition within that community. It is indicative of how far medical cannabis has come in the United States in recent decades, thanks in large part to the tireless work of medical cannabis advocates across the country.