Medical cannabis research published online in 2016 in the journal of pain may indicate an association between reduction in opioid use in patients with chronic pain when using medicinal cannabis therapies.
“This study suggests that many chronic pain CP patients are essentially substituting medical cannabis for opioids and other medications for CP treatment, and finding the benefit and side effect profile of cannabis to be greater than these other classes of medications. More research is needed to validate this finding.”
Although medical cannabis therapies, derived from the marijuana plant cannabis indica and cannabis sativa and prescribed by Chronic doctors in melbourne are considered by the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Australia) as ‘prescription medicines’ in all cities Sydney, Brisbane, Melboure, and states Queensland, NSW and Victoria, Australian medical cannabis therapies still need further rigorous research to confirm these more recent studies evident in the article stating
“The reported improvement in quality of life, better side effect profile, and decreased opioid use should be confirmed by rigorous, longitudinal studies that also assess how CP patients use medical cannabis for pain management.”
These types of studies can assist doctors in making informed decisions in prescribing medical cannnabis to patients in Australia.
Look out for more article updates by the Chronic Doctors.
As with all posts for more information see the link to article and TGA guidelines below:
Medicinal cannabis | Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
*Boehnke, Kevin F., Evangelos Litinas, and Daniel J. Clauw. “Medical cannabis use is associated with decreased opiate medication use in a retrospective cross-sectional survey of patients with chronic pain.” The Journal of Pain6 (2016): 739-744.
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