Lead study author Nancy Haug, a professor of addiction medicine at Palo Alto University, told Live Science that some staff members made recommendations that weren't accurate or appropriate for clients' medical conditions. Pictured: A customer considers various types of marijuana at 3D Cannabis Center in Denver on Jan. 2, 2014, the day after legal recreational pot sales began in Colorado. (Denver Post file)

Do pot shop staffers lack training? What one study shows

A study co-authored by several California researchers suggests that many staffers at medical marijuana dispensaries may not have received much, if any, training for their jobs, according to Live Science.

The small study, published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, found that 30 out 55 staff members surveyed had received at least some formal training for their current jobs.

Twenty percent of those surveyed reported receiving medical training on the health effects of marijuana, and 13 percent said they had been trained on the science of cannabis. Staffers were surveyed at both medical and nonmedical dispensaries in California, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, four other states and the District of Columbia.

Lead study author Nancy Haug, a professor of addiction medicine at Palo Alto University, told Live Science that some staff members made recommendations that weren’t accurate or appropriate for clients’ medical conditions.

The study also reported that almost two in three staffers reported not receiving any training in customer service, business, medicine or science, but 94 percent had provided advice to customers, including recommending specific strains of cannabis for particular ailments and symptoms.

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Full study at LiveScience.com

This story was first published on TheCannifornian.com