medical cannabis for chronic pain?

Updated 3/27/24
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Some people find medical cannabis helpful for chronic pain, especially in the short term, but there are questions about long-term effectiveness and safety.  Cannabis wasn’t recommended by Mayo Clinic when I attended their Pain Rehabilitation Center in 2018 nor is it recommended by the International Association for the Study of Pain.

A new systematic review and meta-analysis published November 28, 2022, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests cannabis is no better at relieving pain than a placebo.  And relying on any sort of passive treatment like medicines and supplements can create dependence on the agent - producing a sense of helplessness and reminding the user of the pain.

I have found I don’t need medicine or supplements to manage my chronic pain. Of course, your experience may differ. I know mine did earlier in my pain journey. My relief came by changing how I think about, feel about, and behave around the pain with pain rehabilitation using self-management.
 
Learn more

• Cannabis is no better than a placebo for treating pain – new research
• Cannabinoid Non-technical Summary 2021 (International Association for the Study of Pain)
• Cannabis for chronic pain: New research questions its effectiveness
• International Review finds lack of evidence to endorse clinical use of medical cannabis for pain
• Cannabis For Smart Consumers: What The Industry Does Not Want You To Know.
• Cannabidiol (CBD) Products for Pain: Ineffective, Expensive, and With Potential Harms
• What You Need to Know (And What We’re Working to Find Out) About Products Containing Cannabis or Cannabis-derived Compounds, Including CBD
• Cannabis is no better than a placebo for treating pain – new research​
• Labeling Accuracy of Cannabidiol Extracts Sold Online
• Beware of supplements (my blog post)
• We Have a Chronic Pain Problem, Not a Prescription Opioid Problem (my article)
• The power of the placebo effect
• How to Move Patients from Passive Management to Active Self-Management (my article)