Sydney, Australia: The daily use of CBD is safe and effective for treating chronic neuropathic pain, according to placebo-controlled clinical trial data published in the journal eClinical Medicine.
Australian researchers assessed the consumption of oral THC versus a placebo among a cohort of 38 patients with spinal cord-related neuropathy. Study participants receiving the intervention used increasingly higher doses of oral CBD throughout the trial, with patients consuming 800 milligrams of CBD daily for the final four weeks of the study. Patients’ pain levels were assessed one week prior to the start of the trial and again at the conclusion of the study.
CBD administration was associated with a 14 percent average reduction in patients’ pain over the course of the trial, with 14 participants reporting a greater than 30 percent reduction in their pain. Adverse effects were described as “minor and similar to those observed during placebo.”
The study’s authors concluded: “This randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover trial (RCT) provides, for the first time, evidence that CBD, taken at a relatively high dose (800 mg/day), can reduce self-reported pain intensity in individuals with chronic neuropathic pain. … Further RCTs of high-dose CBD in chronic neuropathic pain conditions appear warranted.”
Full text of the study, “High dose of cannabidiol for chronic neuropathic pain associated with spinal cord injury: A randomized clinical trial,” appears in eClinical Medicine. Additional information on cannabinoids and neuropathic pain is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids.