Cannabis eases chronic pain better than commonly prescribed opioids
Cannabis can ease chronic pain more effectively than conventional medicines, according to a new study likely to flame the debate on the medical use of marijuana.
Researchers from the Australian National Drug and Alcohol centre found that patients with chronic pain who used the drug said it eased their symptoms better opioid medications, which are highly addictive and can cause accidental overdoses.
The study analysed 1,500 patients, aged in their late 40s and early 50s, who suffered from conditions including back pain, migraines and arthritis, and were being prescribed with heavy-duty opioid medications, such as morphine and oxycodone.
Professor Louisa Degenhardt, from the National Drug and Alcohol Centre and the University of Melbourne led the study. Her team discovered that nearly 13 per cent of the patients had used the illegal drug in the past year on top of their prescribed medication.
In comparison, only 4.7 per cent of the rest of the population used cannabis, she wrote in the journal ‘Drug and Alcohol Dependence’.
“One in three said they found it very effective to relieve their pain, that’s a score of ten out of ten,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald. “Now these are all subjective scores, but it means there is definitely a group of people who think that taking it was very beneficial.”
Degenhart added that the study raised vital questions over whether cannabis should be more seriously explored as source of pain relief, as well as the negative effects of drugs, such as patient dependence.
Dr Nicholas Lintzeris, the co-author of the study and an associate professor of addiction medicine at the University of Sydney, said a huge number of Australians were seeking help for addiction to pain medications, as doctors are left with little choice but to prescribe strong painkillers. This was caused by a lack of access to treatments such as massage, he said.
The findings come after a father who was arrested for allegedly giving his two-year-old daughter cannabis oil sparked a debate on the drug’s use in medicine this month.
Source: Cannabis eases chronic pain better than commonly prescribed opioids
Very true, as someone who is in his mid fifties and was on up to 6_8 Tramadol per day for arthritis in the U.K. I have since moving to Spain 2yrs ago got Tramadol free, this is due to the relaxed law over here in Spain, I grow medical marijuana at my home, the leaf is used in smoothes,tea, the bud and trim is used to make oil using alcohol not butane, my neighbour also uses the oil to relieve his problems with Crohns disease, as it eases the inflammation, stops the nauseous side effects of his medication, and gives him a appetite.if only the U.K government would listen ,we are middle aged uk tax payers not street corner goodies.
I have muscular dystrophy, cannabis is far more effective at relieving my muscle cramps and spasms than any pharma ive tried. I think morphine would be better if I took enough, but that’s a road I cannot and will not go down. Also benzodiazipines are good for the muscle relaxant properties, but the addiction, amnesia and other bad effects are not so good. Also the euphoria, and knowledge that you cannot OD on cannabis are very comforting.