MORE BIG NEWS: Cannabis kills pain (according to the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology)

[Fly by night]

More good news from my friend Paul Armentano, NORML's Deputy Director. BTW, the title is meant (only partly) as a joke, since several semantic purists (or desperately dissembling distractiontortionists) found fault with the title of my recent "Cannabis kills cancer" OP.

Each new scientific report in a peer-reviewed medical journal puts the lie to the continued classification of cannabis in Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substance Act (no medical benefit, highly toxic, highly addictive). Since there have been two such peer-reviewed articles published PER DAY for the past 20 years on the medical benefits of cannabis and cannabinoids, maybe this one will break the flat earth society camel's back. (Or maybe not.)
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Cannabis inhalation and the administration of cannabinoids are both associated with “significant analgesic effects” in the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain, according to a systemic review of randomized controlled trials to be published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

Investigators from the University of Toronto, Hospital for Sick Children, conducted a literature review regarding the efficacy of cannabinoids in the treatment of chronic pain, including neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and mixed chronic pain. Eighteen randomized controlled trials published between 2003 and 2010 involving a total of 766 participants met inclusion criteria. Four of the trials assessed inhaled cannabis, while other studies assessed the analgesic properties of either plant-derived cannabinoids or synthetic cannabinoids.

“Overall the quality of trials was excellent,” authors wrote. “Fifteen of the eighteen trials that met inclusion criteria demonstrated a significant analgesic effect of cannabinoid as compared to placebo, several reported significant improvements in sleep. There were no serious adverse effects.” Researchers noted that all four trials involving inhaled cannabis “found a positive effect with no serious adverse side effects.” They added: “Of special importance is the fact that two of the trials examining smoked cannabis demonstrated a significant analgesic effect in HIV neuropathy, a type of pain that has been notoriously resistant to other treatments normally used for neuropathic pain. In the trial examining cannabis based medicines in rheumatoid arthritis a significant reduction in disease activity was also noted. This is consistent with pre-clinical work demonstrating that cannabinoids are anti-inflammatory.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21426373

[AngryAmish]

1. Nice to see some science back up what seems intuitively right

Many people cannot or should not take narcotics for chronic pain. This is a good option. Just legalize it, please.

[Fly by night]

2. Ah yes. Science, common sense and compassion. That IS the ticket.

[Le Taz Hot]

3. A big K & R for science. n/t

[Maine_Nurse]

4. Something else not often mentioned...

is that co-administration of cannabis with other, more dangerous opioid pain relievers, in some cases, results in the patient requiring less of the opioid to achieve the same pain relief. Since the cannabis does not depress respiration, cause consitpation, or any of the other opioid side effects, this is a very good thing, especially in patients taking very large doses of opioids. Aside from the other patients which have reported this to me, I witnessed it myself with my late wife when she was able to back down nearly 30% on her fentanyl dosage and needed morphine bumps less frequently just by eating a cannabrownie every 4-6 hours.

[Fly by night]

6. Thanks. Research in Israel bolsters your own experience.

The addition of cannabis in the treatment of chronic pain allows patients to reduce their opiate use by 50-90%, according to Raphael Mechoulam and colleagues. I will find an appropriate reference and edit this post when I do.

[Fly by night]

7. Therapeutic potential of cannabis in pain medicine: basic science

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/580951_2

Maybe we spend so much money protecting Israel to make the world safe for basic medical research on cannabis that our own US scientists are prevented from conducting.

[madmax]

9. This is true

speaking from first hand knowledge. I take Tramadol for RA and fractures in the pelvis. Hate it. Makes me dizzy to the point that I fall. Just what I need - a broken hip or something.

I think I'll have to conduct my own study. Of course, I won't be able to take it in pill form so I'll just have to do it the old fashion way. :hippie: I still remember how :P

[2gabby]

5. Why Don't Painkillers Work For People With Fibromyalgia?

Reminds me of this story

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070927131357.htm

Why Don't Painkillers Work For People With Fibromyalgia?

ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2007) — People who have the common chronic pain condition fibromyalgia often report that they don't respond to the types of medication that relieve other people's pain.

New research from the University of Michigan Health System helps to explain why that might be: Patients with fibromyalgia were found to have reduced binding ability of a type of receptor in the brain that is the target of opioid painkiller drugs such as morphine.

editing to add, I was reminded of this because in the pro-medpot issue, its been my experience that those opposed say we already have pain medications, and use that as a justification. Forget all the pain meds that have been pulled from the market, and liver or kidney issues from frequent otc drugs, sometimes the stuff doesn't even work. So it looks like, scientifically, mj is the only proven treatment.

[Bonobo]

8. Yes, it does.

A close relative has been in chronic pain -neuralgia- since being struck by lightning.

Multiple nerves in her body were fried including here trigeminal nerve in her face. One of the most painful.

She finds pain relief through the use of cannabis. It is one of the only things that works and she has tried an A-Z cocktail of all sorts of things -everything in the DR's book.

[Kip Humphrey]

10. Don't bother telling the National Cancer Institute.