Nearly three years since medical marijuana saw its first legal sale in Arkansas, residents are weighing in on how using the drug has changed their lives.
Hot Springs Village resident Dale Worthington, who was diagnosed with head and neck squamous cell cancer five years ago, said cannabis helped him get through his chemotherapy treatments "relatively untouched."
"I didn't even realize how much I wasn't feeling until I started looking around at the other patients, because some of them were just absolutely miserable. They were ash-white," he said. "Some of them would have to get up to go to the bathroom multiple times because they were sick."
Worthington said since he's started using cannabis while undergoing chemotherapy, he's had no nausea, and is able to eat whenever he wants. He was even able to drive himself to and from his chemotherapy sessions.
"Chemotherapy is horrible," Worthington said, but he's still alive and in good health, and the treatments appear to have worked, with his scans now coming back negative.
Worthington makes edibles or mixes it in his coffee. He smokes some, he said, but uses water filtration when he does, not going "straight in," and also uses CBD to counteract the effects so he doesn't get "stoned."
He doesn't like using the word "marijuana," noting it was a term used to make the plant seem more alien; he uses the word cannabis instead.
For anyone on the fence about using it, Worthington said he would tell them to forget all the things they have heard about it, "because all the people in the '70s who said it needed to be freed and legalized were right. We just didn't know why. Please take this plant and use it for yourself, because it can help you, but remember, everything's a trade-off."
Worthington, 69, acknowledged that the drug can cause memory problems and, like any other drug, not everyone will be able to use it, but he advocates they should at least try. For him, the trade-off was worth it.
"I'm still alive. I'm still laughing and having a life. ... Yeah, I miss my memory, but everybody loses that at some point," he said, laughing.
Medical marijuana in Arkansas, which originally came from a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2016, saw its first legal sale in May of 2019. Since then, patients have spent more than $500 million on the drug. Its most profitable year was 2021, with dispensaries reporting $264.9 million in sales.
Dragan Vicentic, CEO of Green Springs Medical dispensary, said the city has been receptive to the business, saying he hasn't noticed much of a stigma.
Vicentic said he's seen people start to substitute medical marijuana in place of harder medications they had been prescribed, such as opioids, and the change had helped give them their lives back.
"People appreciate that they're getting away from them, and they see after they've been on opioids for a while that they're very detrimental to them, both their state of mind and their physical being," he said, noting he has a sign that says "say no to opioids" at his workstation.
People have also begun using Indica strains in place of the sleep aid Ambien, Vicentic said, which he described as a "nighttime" version of the medicine that will relax the patient and give them a good night's sleep, opposite a Sativa strain, which he said is more appropriate to take during the day.
Vicentic said he wants people who are on the fence or considering using the drug to know they don't have to smoke it, which can make people hesitant; other options include using vapor pens or edibles, such as gummies or chocolates.
Though Arkansans have been anecdotally reporting quality of life improvements since being prescribed medical marijuana, researchers are trying to quantify how it's affecting users on a statewide scale.
Researchers with the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences have launched a statewide study to track these outcomes.
Dr. Joe Thompson, CEO and president of ACHI, said the state is uniquely positioned to study the issue due to legislation known as the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative, which aggregates data to support such research.
Researchers are approaching the study from an "agnostic position," Thompson said, looking for both good and bad outcomes that have come from its introduction to the state.
For instance, Thompson said they could look into whether users tend to have more car accidents after receiving prescriptions, or whether medical marijuana users previously prescribed opiates for chronic pain have been using the latter at a healthier rate.
Thompson wanted to clarify the data will not give them access to anyone's name or address.
"This is totally confidential, totally protected, totally de-identified," he said.
Thompson said he thinks they will likely find mixed results that have come from the use, which they hope will be helpful in guiding policy to expand on the benefits of the program while mitigating any potential harms.
The study started in October 2021 and will be a three-year project. It will be "supported by a $1.3 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a division of the National Institutes of Health," according to ACHI's website.
For Hot Springs resident Kathleen Anita Jericho, medical marijuana, or "Mary Jane, as we like to call her," has been an "angel of mercy" to her and her husband, John.
"Personally, I have found some relief in my most disabling conditions: agoraphobia, CPTSD, fibromyalgia, and Battered Person Syndrome," Jericho said in a statement sent to The Sentinel-Record.
Jericho said she previously suffered from abuse and has faced bullying throughout her life. She said medical marijuana has helped her "stay out of her shell," as well as assisting with weight loss and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder cycles.
"The night sweats and terrors have been lessened," she said, but they do occasionally still happen.
Jericho said she still faces stigma as a medical marijuana patient. She said if sharing her and her husband's experiences helps one person make the decision for themselves on whether or not to give it a try, then she's happy to do so.
"Faith, John, and medical marijuana saved my life, ... " she said.