$60K MMJ campaign helping boost doctor participation in CT

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A $60,000 campaign to get more doctors on board with Connecticut’s medical cannabis program appears to have been somewhat successful so far, as the number of physicians registered to recommend MMJ has risen nearly 8% since the effort began.

But that might not translate into a spike in patient numbers – or a correlating increase in business for dispensaries – because only a handful of doctors are making the vast majority of medical cannabis recommendations in the state.

Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) launched the marketing campaign in June, placing ads on medical journal websites and having officials speak at meetings hosted by doctor-related groups.

The goal of the ongoing campaign is to get more doctors to register with the program so they can recommend medical cannabis as a treatment for patients with qualifying aliments.

As of late July, 239 doctors were registered with the program – up from just over 222 when the campaign started, according to the Middletown Press News. The campaign therefore seems to be working to some degree, though it’s unclear how much of the uptick is tied to the marketing effort itself vs. nature growth.

Still, only about eight doctors registered with the program make most of the state’s 4,900 medical marijuana patients, the newspaper reported.

The majority of doctors in the state only make minimal recommendations for MMJ, so the 17 new ones that have signed up might not help increase the patient base by much.