As we explained in the first part of this article, medical cannabis has been shown to be an effective treatment for chronic pain. And it may actually help people who are currently addicted to opioid painkillers. Let’s take a look at the evidence to date.
Evidence for Medical Cannabis in Treating Pain
Cannabis has been used to treat pain for thousands of years across different cultures. However, studies on the therapeutic benefit of cannabis for pain had not been conducted until a bit more recently. Research conducted in the 1970s provided inconsistent results; however, in the early 2000s, studies were published on small groups of individuals treating their pain with cannabis-based medicinal extracts. One such study in the UK found that cannabis extracts high in THC were effective in addressing chronic pain in a group of 34 patients.
More recent studies have also reported similar findings. A study published in 2010 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal evaluated a group of 21 patients with chronic nerve pain. Patients in the study took 3 doses of cannabis daily across 5 days. This treatment regimen reduced pain intensity and significantly improved sleep quality. A follow-up study from this group reported that these effects were consistent across a year of treatment with a reasonable safety profile.
Although findings from individual studies are encouraging, it’s also important to take into account the many different reports that have been published regarding cannabis and pain – such a report is called a meta-analysis, in which data from many different studies are compared and summarized. In 2015, the prestigious journal, The Journal of the American Medical Association or JAMA, published such a clinical review where they reported on the effects of 28 clinical trials on cannabis and pain spanning from 1948-2015. Several of these trials reported positive findings, indicating that cannabis may indeed be an effective treatment for chronic pain.
Medical Cannabis and Opioid Addiction
Both cannabis and opioids (derived from the opium poppy plant) have been used for thousands of years; however, the opioids used today as painkillers have serious side effects and their misuse can lead to addiction. While cannabis is also associated with side effects, many studies, including a meta-analysis, have shown most side effects caused by cannabis use are not serious. And many healthcare professionals and researchers believe that it is safer to treat pain with cannabis rather than opioids to reduce the risk of harmful side effects.
In addition to presenting an alternate to opioids, cannabis may actually be able to help those addicted to opioids stop using the drug. In 2014, a report in JAMA found that states with legalized medical cannabis have significantly lower opioid overdose mortality rates. In addition, a study published in 2016 based on an online survey reported that cannabis use in patients with chronic pain was associated with a 64% reduction in their opioid use. In fact, studies published just this year have also supported the use of cannabis as a potential way to reduce drug cravings in those addicted to opioids, and these results are making their way into popular media, challenging the current approach to managing opioid addiction.
Watch the video below to learn more about the potential of medical cannabis for treating pain:
