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Background Mounting evidence suggests the safety and efficacy of medical marijuana (MM) in treating chronic ailments, including chronic pain, epilepsy, and anorexia. Despite incremental use of medical and recreational cannabinoids, current limited evidence shows generalized unpreparedness of medical providers to discuss or recommend these substances to their patients. Herein, the present study aims to examine internal medicine residents’ knowledge of marijuana and their attitude towards its medical use. Methods This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. A survey with 12 standardized queries was created and distributed among the internal medicine residents from Mount Sinai Morningside-West (MSMW) program from July 2020 to December 2020. Participants included preliminary and categorical residents from post-graduate years one to three. The survey consisted of self-assessment of residents’ knowledge on the indication, contraindication, adverse effects of MM. Results Eighty-six (59%) out of 145 residents completed the questionnaire. Despite most trainees (70%) having considered certifying the use of MM for their patients, over 90% reported none to little knowledge on its use. Approximately 80% of the surveyed residents expressed willingness to receive an appropriate educational curriculum. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that indicated a critical lack of medical marijuana-related knowledge in surveyed internal medicine residents. In a population with growing cannabis consumption, physician training on the indication, toxicity, and drug interaction of cannabinoids is warranted.

Alcohol-related and alcohol withdrawal (AW) hospitalizations are routinely underestimated in the geriatric population and can have a significant impact on healthcare resource utilization.To examine various patient-characteristics, hospitalization-outcomes, and prevalence of AW related-hospitalizations.In this retrospective study, we examined the objectives mentioned above over a 10-year period (2005 to 2014) using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) in adults aged 65 years or older. National estimates of trends for AW prevalence and matched-regression analyses were conducted.Increased prevalence of hospitalizations for AW was observed (148-cases-per-100,000-discharges in 2005 to 283-cases-per-100,000-discharges in 2014). Of the overall nationwide hospital admissions in patients aged 65 and older (128,111,787), 0.21% (264,786) with documented AW were identified. Of these, those of age 65-74 years accounted for 72.7% of admissions with the highest prevalence amongst males (males accounted for 74%, women 26%) and individuals of Caucasian ethnicity (79.9%).On comparing AW to Non-AW related-hospitalizations, patients admitted with AW had a higher median length of stay (five vs. four days), more significant functional decline with only 44.2% discharges being discharged home (vs. 47.2%) and 34.4% AW related discharges requiring discharge to skilled nursing facilities (vs. 28.5%). Higher hospitalization costs totaling $4,000 more on bivariate analysis were observed for the AW group.The prevalence of admissions with AW has increased in the inpatient geriatric population, contributing to increased length of stay, higher hospitalization costs, and greater functional decline. Recognition of these findings and the development of programs supporting older adults with alcohol use disorder may improve patient outcomes.