How can medical cannabis help treat opioid use disorder (OUD)? This is what a recent study published in the Journal of Cannabis Research hopes to address as a team of researchers led by the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine investigated the impacts of using medical cannabis to treat OUD for patients suffering from chronic pain. This study has the potential to help researchers, medical professionals, and the public better understand the benefits of using medical cannabis for treating OUD, which comes as cannabis legalization continues to expand nationwide.
For the study, the researchers enlisted 47 adults who were currently taking the common medication to treat OUD, buprenorphine/naloxone, while experiencing pain levels rated minimum of 5 out of 10. During March 2022 and April 2023, the patients were given a medical cannabis treatment comprised of equal parts tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol at 5 milligrams each. The goal of the study was to ascertain patient pain severity and how the medical cannabis influenced their opioid use for treating their pain. Three months after treatment, the researchers found an overall decrease in pain severity and opioid cravings, while also finding that sleep quality and quality of life improved.
The study noted, “As hypothesized, adults with OUD reported significant reductions in pain severity and interference and significant increases in pain self-efficacy over the 3-month period post-MC treatment initiation. Given that all measures of pain in this study improved following initiation of MC, as well as the potential for undertreated pain to precede or ‘trigger’ opioid misuse, MC may represent an important tool for pain management in this population.”
This study comes more than nine years after medical cannabis became legal in Pennsylvania but were initially restricted to non-smoking forms of cannabis that was label lifted in 2018. With opioid use on the rise across the country, studies like this could open the doors for replacing opioids with cannabis for treating chronic pain and other ailments.
What new discoveries will researchers make between medical cannabis and OUD in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Journal of Cannabis Research
