Los Angeles, CA: One in four consumers say that their “main goal when using cannabis” is to achieve pain relief, according to survey data provided by the company NuggMD.
The company, which offers physician referrals in several states, surveyed more than 6,500 consumers. Twenty-five percent of respondents said that they use cannabis to mitigate pain. A nearly equal percentage (23 percent) said that they consume cannabis products to relieve anxiety.
Only 13 percent of respondents defined their cannabis use strictly as “recreational.”
The survey’s findings are consistent with those of others reporting that consumers frequently self-medicate with cannabis to assuage pain, anxiety, depression, or problems sleeping.
Data published last year in the journal JAMA Network Open reported that nearly one in four pain patients residing in states where medical cannabis access is legal self-identify as marijuana consumers.
Another study, published in 2023 in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, determined that patients who use authorized medical cannabis products experience sustained, “clinically significant improvements in pain interference and tiredness, anxiety, and well-being.”
Complete survey results are available from NuggMD.