Medical Cannabis Significantly Reduced Opioid Use by Pain Patients
/By Pat Anson, PNN Editor
Pain patients on long-term opioid therapy were able to significantly reduce their use of opioid medication after they started using medical cannabis, according to a small new study.
Researchers at the Institute for Pain Medicine in Pittsburgh followed 115 patients with severe chronic or intractable pain who had consumed opioids for at least six months before trying medical cannabis. Many lived with pain from failed back syndrome or rheumatoid arthritis. Their average daily opioid dose was nearly 50 MME (morphine milligram equivalent).
Patients were allowed to continue taking opioids during an initial trial with cannabis, but agreed to be weaned off opioids if cannabis was used long-term. Researchers encouraged patients to try different formulations and types of cannabis, but to start with low doses of THC and to avoid smoking.
Thirty patients dropped out of the study because cannabis was ineffective or had unwelcome side effects.
Of the 75 patients who continued using cannabis, many were able to taper themselves to a lower dose of opioids. There was an average 67% decrease in MME after one month and a 73% decrease after two months (from 49.9 MME to 13.3 MME).
“The current study’s approach has led to a significant decrement in chronic opioid use for the majority of patients with chronic pain deciding to trial medical cannabis in our clinical setting,” researchers reported in the journal Pain Physician.
“We feel strongly, based on our study, that medical cannabis should only be available for treatment under a physician’s oversight and as part of a treatment strategy which includes compliance monitoring to minimize harms and improve efficacy rates. After discussing the risks, benefits, and potential side effects of chronic opioid therapy with the patient, the authors of this study present medical cannabis, used with the current study’s paradigm, as a potentially effective class of treatment for chronic pain.”
Previous studies have also found an association between cannabis and reduced opioid use, although this is one of the first to measure it through MME.
A 2020 study found that nearly half of chronic pain patients using medical cannabis reported significant improvement in their pain levels. Most were able to reduce or stop their use of opioids.
A recent Harris Poll found that twice as many Americans are using cannabis products to manage their pain than prescription opioids.
