Tag Archives: Cannabis

Drug Stocks Drop When Recreational Cannabis Legalized

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PainRelief.com Interview with:

Sarah Stith PhD
Assistant Professor of Economics
University of New Mexico

Dr. Stith

PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: We studied how the stock market returns of publicly traded pharmaceutical firms responded to medical and recreational cannabis legalization events. Our results show that stock market returns were 1.5-2% lower at 10 days following a single cannabis legalization event and that the annual sales implications from this reduction were in the billions.

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About 1/3 North Americans Self Medicate with Cannabis, Mostly for Pain

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Janni Leung, PhD
Senior Research Fellow
National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research (NCYSUR)
The University of Queensland

Dr. Leung

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study? 

Response: There is increasing interest in cannabis use for medical reasons, and we want to find out how many people are using it and for what.

PainRelief.com:  What are the main findings?

Response: Almost 1 in 3 of North Americans self-reported that they have used cannabis for medical reasons, with higher use reported by young adults, although chronic conditions are less prevalent in this group.

Most common reasons were to help with pain, sleep, depression and anxiety, but some reported using it to manage their drug or alcohol use and psychosis.

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Study Finds Physical Exercise Increases Body’s Own Cannabis-Type Substances

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Amrita Vijay PhD
Division of Rheumatology
Orthopedics and Dermatology
School of Medicine
University of Nottingham
Nottingham, UK

Dr. Vijay

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: We carried out this research as we wanted to see if exercise had an effect on the levels of anti-inflammatory substances produced by gut microbes and on endocannabinoids (i.e cannabis-like substances) produced by our bodies.  

One of the key findings of the study is that physical exercise increases levels of the body’s own cannabis-type substances and highlights a key link between how substances produced by our gut microbes interact with these cannabis-like substances and reduces inflammation.  

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Medical Cannabis May Be Helpful For Pain Relief in a Minority of People with Chronic Pain, But Will Not Be Effective For Most

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
JASON BUSSE DC, PhD
Associate Professor
Associate Director
Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research
McMaster University Medical Centre
Ontario, Canada

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?

Response: Our focused clinical practice guideline was informed by 4 systematic reviews exploring benefits and harms of medical cannabis for chronic pain, the potential for cannabis to help people who live with pain to reduce their use of opioids, and patients values & preferences regarding medical cannabis for chronic pain. We found that non-inhaled medical cannabis provided small to very small improvements in pain relief, physical functioning and sleep quality compared to placebo, but did not improve mental functioning, role functioning or social functioning. Use of medical cannabis, versus placebo, also caused small increases in the risk of several transient, moderate, side effects, such as impaired attention, nausea, and drowsiness, and a larger increase in the risk of dizziness.

There was insufficient evidence to inform the risk of serious adverse events, such as motor vehicle accidents, cannabis use disorder (addiction), or suicide. We also found that patients’ attitudes towards medical cannabis show considerable variation, meaning that when presented with the same evidence different patients are likely to make different decisions about embarking on a trial of medical cannabis. Due to the close balance between modest benefits and harms, and high variability among patients’ attitudes, we made a weak recommendation to consider a trial of medical cannabis for people living with chronic pain who had not achieved sufficient relief with standard care.

A weak recommendation means that clinicians should provide chronic pain patients with the evidence for benefits and harms and help them to make a decision consistent with their patient’s values and preferences.

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Study Identifies Three Patterns of Medical Cannabis Use for Pain

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Dr. Deepika Slawek,

PainRelief.com Interview with:
Deepika Slawek, MD, MS, MPH (she/hers)
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, NY 10467

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?

Response: Medical cannabis has become increasingly available in the United States over the past 25 years and is commonly used for the management of pain. Little is known about the patterns of medical cannabis use by patients with chronic pain. This information could help providers anticipate patients’ needs and identify potential disparities in access.

We followed 99 adults in New York State who were newly certified for medical cannabis use and who were prescribed opioids over the course of 1 year. Using a latent class trajectory analysis, we identified clusters of participants based on 14-day frequency of medical cannabis use. We used logistic regression to determine factors associated with cluster membership including sociodemographic characteristics, pain, substance use, and mental health symptoms.

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Does Medical Marijuana Prevents Opioid Overdoses?

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PainRelief.com Interview with:

Daniel Kaufman, MS Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Daniel Kaufman

Daniel Kaufman, MS
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Brian J. Piper, PhD, MS
Department of Medical Education
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Scranton, PA 18510

Dr. Piper










PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?

Response: The opioid epidemic has stricken the United States and caused thousands of deaths nationally. Researchers continue to search for a solution to the ongoing escalation in opioid related deaths, with some states turning to medical cannabis as a potential alternative treatment for chronic pain. The objectives of this study were to:

  1. To determine if medical cannabis program implementation had any effect on opioid overdoses at a state-wide level
  2. To contribute to the discussion of researchers searching for a solution to the opioid epidemic facing the United States
  3. Begin the discussion on the standardization of autopsy procedures, including death/overdose determination
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Withdrawal Symptoms Common in People Using Cannabis for Pain Relief

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Lara Coughlin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor | Addiction Center
Department of Psychiatry
University of Michigan

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?

Response: In this study we followed people that were seeking certification for medical cannabis use for chronic pain over the course of two years. We assessed the prevalence and progression of cannabis withdrawal.

We found that most people experienced multiple withdrawal symptoms, such as craving cannabis, anxiety, and irritability, when they went without cannabis. People that used cannabis more frequently, used larger amounts, and reported smoking cannabis had more withdrawal symptoms. Over time, people that were younger were more likely to experience increasing withdrawal symptoms and people that vaped cannabis tended not to experience improvement in their withdrawal symptoms.  

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A Systematic Review of Cannabis-Based Medications for Pain Relief

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Joshua (Shuki) Aviram PhD, R.N
Prof. Meiri’s Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Cannabinoid Research
Post doc Fellow Faculty of Biology
Technion Institute of Technology – Haifa, Israel

Dr. Aviram

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?
Response: I am a RN by profession, and treating patients with opioids as the main solution to alleviate their pain, with many adverse effects, such as severe constipation made me looking for another solution.

In the course of my PhD thesis, from which I recently published results in the European Journal of Pain (link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344739061_Medical_Cannabis_Treatment_for_Chronic_Pain_Outcomes_and_Prediction_of_Response),

I reviewed the literature and I noticed that there were few reviews that used the same clinical trials as their basis, reaching somewhat different conclusions. Therefore, I decided to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of all available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) at that time.

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Can CBD and Cannabis Provide Pain Relief in Fibromyalgia?

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Amnon A. Berger, MD, PhD
MD/PhD Program 2006-2017
The Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School
Jerusalem, Israel
Resident Physician (CA-1/PGY-2) and Loring Scholar
Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA

Dr. Berger

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?

Response: Fibromyalgia is a common disorder of chronic widespread pain. It has been estimated to affect 2-4% of the general population, though that number is likely an underestimate of the actual incidence. Outside of chronic pain, it also contributes to morbidity and disability because it affects sleep, causes cognitive impairment and psychiatric perturbations. Fibromyalgia is difficult to diagnose and even more difficult to treat.

Because the underlying causes – the etiology and pathophysiology at the base of this condition – are still largely unknown, it is harder to tailor specific treatments. There is evidence to support several modes of treatment, but truly high-level evidence exists only for physical exercise. Effective treatment depends on long term commitment and a multimodal approach by a multidisciplinary team.

Recently, with the rise of use in cannabis and CBD, both for medical and recreational use, evidence has emerged to support its use in fibromyalgia. While most of the evidence is not clear cut and not high enough evidence to support cannabis use, the evidence is overall positive and cannabis derivatives may be an effective choice as part of a multimodal treatment plan.

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Study Evaluates Inhaled Cannabis for Pain Relief from Headache and Migraine

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PainRelief.com Interview with:
Carrie Cuttler, Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorWashington State University
Department of Psychology
Pullman, WA, 99164-4820

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?

Response: Many people report using cannabis for headache and migraine and claim that it is effective in reducing their symptoms. However, to date there has only been one clinical trial examining the effectiveness of a cannabinoid drug called Nabilone (synthetic THC that is orally administered) on headache. The results of that trial indicated that Nabilone was more effective than ibuprofen in reducing pain and increasing quality of life. There have also been a couple of preclinical (animal) studies suggesting that cannabinoids like THC may be beneficial in the treatment of migraine. But there are surprisingly few studies examining the effectiveness of cannabis, particularly whole plant cannabis rather than synthetic cannabinoids on headache and migraine.

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