According to a new study, the marijuana component CBD helps patients with chronic pain even in low doses. This makes it “a promising option to conventional pain-management strategies.”
This peer-reviewed, journal Cureus study was based on responses from a survey conducted in medical clinics and social media. Key findings, authors wrote, “are that the use of cannabinoids is positively associated with decreased chronic pain, even at low dosages (<100 mg).”
Reports state that the majority of patients had no adverse effects while those with milder effects reported them. There were no reports of severe side-effects.
This study’s conclusion is that CBD might be an alternative for conventional pain-management strategies. We believe that these results point towards new research avenues to help improve treatment plans and aid patients with chronic back pain.
121 adults, aged between 21 and 65 years old, self-reported chronic pain. This is pain lasting more than six months. The survey included demographics and questions about patients’ perceptions on CBD effectiveness, dosages, frequency of usage, side effects, etc.
They wrote, “We set out to further explore and expand the literature by asking chronic pain users who have used CBD for pain relief what they thought about the perceived benefits and effects of CBD.”
The average age was 37, with 61.2% of respondents being male. Most—100 people—said their pain had lasted two years or longer, while 21 said their pain had lasted 23 months or less.
The most common causes of pain were headaches or migraines (6.6%), arthritis (15.7%), disc herniation (14.9%), fibromyalgia (7.3%), and neuropathy (6.6%). The participants could choose multiple answers.
On a scale of 1 to 10 the subjects were asked how much chronic pain they had before CBD was used, and also their level pain after treatment.
“The average baseline level of chronic pain across participants before CBD was 5.4 ± 1.8,” the report says, “which decreased to 2.6 ± 1.7 (p < 0.0001, n = 121) after CBD, which is a decrease of 2.8 ± 1.7.”
The research found that 98.3 percent reported improvement, and the rest (1.7 percent or 2 participants) showed no change at all. The research found that three people “reported complete relief of chronic baseline pain” after CBD.
Most respondents (26,4%) and three quarters of participants (24,0%) said they only used CBD once or twice per day. 5,8 percent said they used CBD 10 times a day.
The individual doses vary widely. However, the majority of respondents (33.9%) reported doses between 50mg and 100mg. Four respondents (3.3%) stated that doses are greater than one gram.
Most respondents (55,4 percent) did not report any side effects. Among the side effects that were reported—all of which were mild—drowsiness or fatigue were most common, at 29.8 percent. Other 5 percent of patients reported diarrhea. Headaches and cramps each accounted for 2.5 percent.
The authors of the study concluded that the findings of the survey “indicate CBD use as a pain treatment is not limited to a specific cause of chronic pain.”
Further, they noted that people tend to use CBD in relatively small quantities and at three or less times per day.
This means that CBD can be administered to most subjects in a way that is convenient to them.
It continues that the high self-reported effectiveness rate can be attributed in part to its many mechanisms of action.”
CBD has analgesic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. It does this by blocking cyclooxygenase, lipoxygenase, inhibiting the production of leukotrienes within polymorphonuclear cell, acting as a modulator allosteric of mu and delta opioids receptors and partly activating serotonin 5HT1A receptor.
Authors—from the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine as well as Firelands Regional Medical Center and NOMS Healthcare, in Ohio—acknowledged that the anonymous, online nature of the survey was a limitation. They wrote: “Offering the questionnaire in paper and pen format or verbally with consenting patients would increase sample size and possibly provide a more robust image of CBD usage to manage chronic pain.” Future research can also verify self-reported data against physician’s reports or patient files.
This study’s conclusion is that these results may provide comfort to those who worry about pain medication taken too often, in high doses or with adverse side effects. Our research, while not exhaustive in nature, clearly indicates that CBD therapy can have a positive impact on chronic pain. Further research on this subject is needed.
Past research has suggested that a variety of cannabinoids—including CBD and others—may help ease pain symptoms. One study, published in Feburary, concluded that cannabis and its cannabinoid constituents may provide effective treatments for chronic pain. In some cases, they even reduced the need for other medication.
The paper also said select mixtures of cannabinoids—such as cannabichromene (CBC) and cannabigerol (CBG)—could have other benefits, including minimizing undesirable effects like the psychoactivity of THC.
More than 180 distinct cannabinoids, which interact with many different body parts, have been isolated. CBD and THC have a “wide range of therapeutic potential based on the multiple molecular target including receptors, ion channel, transporters, and enzymes.”
The authors concluded that “the two most studied and abundant cannabinoids THC and CBD along with a cannabinoid understudied, Cannabigerol, have shown in our labs to reduce neuropathic in animal models.” They recommended further research “into the cannabinoids such as THC, CBD, and CBG, should focus on optimal therapeutic dosages and effects of these cannabinoids on the management chronic neuropathic in humans.”
Separate research published earlier this year in the journal Pain found that marijuana was “comparatively more effective than prescription medications” for treating chronic pain after a three-month period, and that many patients reduced their use of opioid painkillers while using cannabis.
According to the authors of the National Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School report, “the analysis was able to determine using causal inference methods that the use of medical cannabis for chronic pain is at least equally effective, and could be more effective, in comparison to chronic pain patients treated with prescription medication (nonopioid and opioid).”
A recent federally funded study, meanwhile, found that legalization of marijuana in U.S. states is associated with reduced prescriptions for opioid pain medications among commercially insured adults—indicating a possible substitution effect where patients are choosing to use cannabis instead of prescription drugs to treat pain.
The authors wrote that “these results indicate that the substitution of marijuana for pain medication increases with increased availability of recreational cannabis.” They noted that “there appears to be a slight shift when recreational cannabis is legalized, but that we see better results after users are able to purchase cannabis from recreational dispensaries.”
The paper published in Cannabis explains that “reductions in prescriptions for opioids due to recreational marijuana legalization could prevent opioid exposure in pain patients, as well as lead to a decrease in new opioid users and rates of addiction disorder.”
Another recent study also found a decrease in opioid fatal overdoses when marijuana for adults was legalized. That study found a “consistent negative relationship” between legalization and fatal overdoses, with more significant effects in states that legalized cannabis earlier in the opioid crisis. According to the authors, recreational marijuana legalization is “associated with an approximate 3.5 death reduction per 100,000 persons.”
The report concluded that, “Our results suggest that expanding recreational marijuana use could be a way to combat the opioid crisis.” The report stated that “previous research shows marijuana can be used to reduce prescriptions for opioid painkillers, but we also find it reduces overdose deaths.”
This effect is heightened with early implementation [recreational marijuana legalization]This relationship appears to be relatively stable over the years,” said it.
Another recently published report into prescription opioid use in Utah following the state’s legalization of medical marijuana found that the availability of legal cannabis both reduced opioid use by patients with chronic pain and helped drive down prescription overdose deaths statewide. The study concluded that cannabis has an important role in the management of pain and reduction of opioid usage.
Yet another study, published in 2023, linked medical marijuana use to lower pain levels and reduced dependence on opioids and other prescription medications. And another, published by the American Medical Association (AMA) last February, found that chronic pain patients who received medical marijuana for longer than a month saw significant reductions in prescribed opioids.
About one in three chronic pain patients reported using cannabis as a treatment option, according to a 2023 AMA-published report. The majority of this group reported using cannabis to replace other pain medication, such as opioids.
Other research published that year found that letting people buy CBD legally significantly reduced opioid prescription rates, leading to 6.6 percent to 8.1 percent fewer opioid prescriptions.
A 2022 research paper that analyzed Medicaid data on prescription drugs, meanwhile, found that legalizing marijuana for adult use was associated with “significant reductions” in the use of prescription drugs for the treatment of multiple conditions.
A 2023 report linked state-level medical marijuana legalization to reduced opioid payouts to doctors—another datapoint suggesting that patients use cannabis as an alternative to prescription drugs when given legal access.
Researchers in another study, published last year, looked at opioid prescription and mortality rates in Oregon, finding that nearby access to retail marijuana moderately reduced opioid prescriptions, though they observed no corresponding drop in opioid-related deaths.
Cannabis may also be a good alternative for opioids to manage pain, according to other recent studies.
A report published recently in the journal BMJ Open, for instance, compared medical marijuana and opioids for chronic non-cancer pain and found that cannabis “may be similarly effective and result in fewer discontinuations than opioids,” potentially offering comparable relief with a lower likelihood of adverse effects.
Separate research published found that more than half (57 percent) of patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain said cannabis was more effective than other analgesic medications, while 40 percent reported reducing their use of other painkillers since they began using marijuana.
In Minnesota, meanwhile, a state government report this year on chronic pain patients enrolled in the state’s medical marijuana program said recently that participants “are finding a noticeable change in pain relief” within a few months of starting cannabis treatment.
In a large-scale, nearly 10,000 patient study, nearly one quarter of patients who previously took painkillers reduced their usage after using medical cannabis.
Another new study on the use of medical marijuana by older patients—age 50 and above—concluded that “cannabis seemed to be a safe and effective treatment” for pain and other conditions.
According to a recent presentation that reviewed research about the student athlete’s use of cannabis, marijuana has “proven positive findings” as an alternative pain relief among NCAA athletes.
Another study revealed that 40% of veterans with chronic pain used marijuana to relieve their symptoms.
The majority of participants said that they used cannabis for pain relief, sleep problems, and mobility issues. A large number of veterans said it helped with stress, anxiety, and PTSD. Nearly everyone (98%) said that healthcare providers should talk to their patients about natural products.
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