Philadelphia, PA: The use of state-authorized medical cannabis products is associated with significant and sustained declines in daily opioid intake among patients suffering from chronic pain conditions, according to data published in the journal Cureus.
Investigators affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, assessed patients’ pain scores and opioid use following the initiation of medical cannabis treatment. Twenty-nine patients participated in the study. All study participants had previously expressed an interest in reducing their opioid use but had been unable to do so. Study participants were monitored for five months.
Consistent with other studies, patients reported reduced pain levels and lower rates of daily opioid consumption following cannabis therapy.
Researchers reported: “Mean daily opioid consumption decreased from a baseline of 46.8 MMEs (morphine milligram equivalents)/day to 16.2 MMEs/day at one month and remained low throughout the five-month follow-up period. … Pain levels also decreased over time. The baseline NRS (Numeric Pain Rating Scale) score decreased by an average of 1.1-2.0 points during follow-up. … Seven patients (24%) were able to completely discontinue opioid therapy by the end of the study, five of whom achieved this by the second month.”
The study’s authors concluded: “Opioid misuse related to chronic pain treatment remains a significant public health challenge in the United States. Although cannabis has historically been characterized as a potential ‘gateway drug, it may also serve as a harm-reduction tool for some patients seeking to reduce reliance on higher-risk opioid medications. … These results suggest that medical cannabis may be a useful adjunct therapy for reducing opioid use, relieving chronic pain, and improving health-related quality of life.”
Data previously published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) determined that nearly one in three patients with chronic pain use cannabis as an analgesic agent, and many of those who do substitute it in place of opioids.
Full text of the study, “Medical cannabis as an opiate alternative: A prospective observational cohort study,” appears in Cureus.Additional information on cannabis and pain management is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids. Additional information is also available from the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Relationship Between Marijuana and Opioids.’