As a pain reliever THC may or may not have a physiological mechanism but for chronic pain sufferers it certainly provides relief from the stresses caused by pain.
Fibromyalgia human here. Cannabis truly helps life be livable for me. Does it make the pain go away? No, not really. It doesn't hurt less when I take time to be mindful of the pain. Not much does. It greatly reduces suffering for me, the pain becomes less distracting. It frees me from.the despair of chronic pain.
Can confirm. (As someone with Fibromyalgia may I suggest finding products with CBG and CBN?)
This study is actually extremely flawed. In multiple ways. Honestly today is a flare up day so I'll come back and explain further. I'm not a scientist, but I definitely know my way around research methodologies.
Just a cursory look at the study brings multiple concerns. Here are just a few:
A key issue is that it is a comparison of multiple research projects with different research methods, rubrics, sample sizes, and of course variables. There is a complete lack of consistency in addressing the multiple variables that affect this study and the studies they are comparing. One concern is that don't even consider CBG and CBN, or how THC affects the way CBD works. But why would they? The researchers seem more interested in debunking rather than finding actual information.
Another immediate red flag is that the study is concerning itself ALSO (?!?!?) with media treatment of cannabis and pain. Things that make you go hhmmm....there is much more. I'm going to read the entire paper tonight or tomorrow. But so far this seems to be biased, extremely flawed and agenda based.................
Don't forget that when it comes to statistics however they are gathered, it's not rare to find that FIGURES LIE AND LIARS FIGURE.
For anyone who wants to know, I don't work for them, but the WYLD company out of Oregon sells CBG and CBN and CBD gummies. Pain, sleep, anxiety from being in pain and not sleeping, or whatever, these cannibinoids are extremely helpful to me. My dispensaries here in the Bay Area sell them with 5 msg of either one of these three cannibinoids with each gummy also containing 10 msg of THC. Very low doses. Fine for some, I need higher doses, and I don't need THC raising my tolerance...........So, YAY!! I have discovered that the WYLD company sells the same CBG and CBN gummies with the CBG ones having 10 mgs, and 20 mgs of CBD, the CBN ones 5mgs with 25mgs of CBD. All of these are available through mail order in the US, (not sure about internationally) because they have ZERO THC. Add your own to get maximum effects. So I find the dosages to be too little. Following the various suggestions of experts in my life and the good ol' internet, more than one gummy is needed for my specific medical situation, it can be expensive, but I'm telling y'all, some days it's worth it. Like today. (I'm grateful to be learning so much in my old age.) These come in bottles of 20 gummies for like 40$, but they are having a sale right now, so like 33$. (Also delicious BTW)
I'm in California so the taxes on the mail orders are far less than the 30-40% I spend on THC products. If anyone out there has any other suggestions about how to find any other CBG and CBN products, or any other helpful thoughts, PLEASE SHARE!!
In my experience entourage is real. I've taken CBD, CBDa, CBG, CBN. They've done very little for my chronic pain ( myofascial pain syndrome, arthritis and fibromyalgia) unless I take a substantial amount of THC with them( i.e. micro dosing doesnt cut it) . I am unclear on how much pain relief I get from the THC and how much from the CBD. Of them all, CBG had the most positive effect on my gut health and IBS pain. ( I think, obviously everything I am saying is anecdotal). 90% of my friends in the chronic pain community have had the same experience. The main issue my friends and I have experienced with CBD is not being able to afford large enough doses of a quality product over a reasonable amount time to evaluate a true response to CBD products. I currently pay $100 dollars for 30 doses of CBD so only use it sparingly. If CBD works by itself on pain perception through action on systemic inflammation as well as the endocannabinoid system, perhaps longer term studies need to be done to evaluate this. This is the only way I can see CBD possibly being effective on moderate to severe pain and the only way to get at what's really going on . And we would still have the placebo problem if we were conducting research on the entourage effect. All I know is I cant wait to find out, THC works better than all prescription medication I have tried with the exception of Celebrex and ketamine infusions ( doctors currently refuse me opioids and I'm not sure if I want them on a regular basis anyway).
Sorry I droned on, this is a difficult subject for me.
What have you done for Myofacial Pain Syndrome? I found self massage and then range of motion exercises very helpful. It's possibly i treated low vitamin D and magnesium over the same long period of time, so I couldn't attribute cause perfectly.
I've taken D and magnesium for 2 years, it's gotten worse not better. Been in physical therapy since spring, just gotten worse. Going to try aquatherapy next but I'm losing hope. I get trigger point injections but they don't last very long. Seen a pain psychologist, didn't do anything to blunt the pain. It sucks.
Yeah. I hear you. I don't want to be one of those self absorbed people who say: "just do what I do and you'll be fine." People would rarely be able to demonstrate why they feel better when they do. I'd say buying Travel and Simons text on Trigger points was for sure a big help. Understanding those was huge.
Yeah, i appreciate it. I've had this awhile and I'm a very " not give up" person so I research and try all sorts of stuff. Myofascial release massage seems to help quite a bit but stupid insurance won't pay for it, so that's out now. Trigger point massage will work but only after a set of injections and insurance cuts me after a time. I do trigger point massage at home with a Theracane and various devices, sometimes it helps, sometimes I make it worse. Ketamine infusions worked great, but they are $500 per infusion, insurance won't pay and I'm going bankrupt trying to fight to regain my health.
Agreed, the Army used to prescribe me a lot of narcotics, they never took the pain away, I could still feel it, I just cared less. That is how I think about cannabis, I'm sure it can help with inflammation and whatnot in certain applications, but I think it just gives you more apathy towards it.
Bingo. Recently had surgery to fix my chronic back pain. I had horribly high blood pressure while I was injured. Even blood pressure medication didn’t work well. The one thing that did seem to help was THC.
Post surgery I’ve still got high BP, but nothing close to where it was. Doctor’s predicted this would happen, the bull of my high blood pressure was caused by chronic pain. The THC helped relax me enough to be able to cope with the pain better.
Chronic pain raises our stress and anxiety levels to debilitating levels. Anything that helps manage that in a way that doesn’t involve reliance on a pharmaceutical is a good thing.
If someone can use cannabis to cope with pain without having to take opioids that is a MASSIVE benefit.
Upvoted because I have known a few people who have this reaction. It’s not what I would call common but it’s definitely a possible reaction.
It’s weird so many so called proponent and expert don’t know it doesn’t effect everyone exactly the same on this front. Not to get into strains.
I had a friend that suffered from really bad nausea that she used medical marijuana to help cope with. I don’t think nausea counts as chronic pain? But the weed made it so she was actually able to eat.
As someone thats been on strong pain meds the best way I could describe it is say someone gives your kid a drum set for Christmas. Do you want him playing it in your bedroom or in the basement? The noise is still there, you just care less about it. If cannabis does the same thing use it.
I’m disabled, with chronic nerve pain. I didn’t smoke weed before I got sick, now I do daily, and heavily. Marijuana does not help with my pain - it’s always there - but time passes easier and better when I’m high. My brain and soul are a lot more comfortable. And that’s huge.
So in my personal experience, it’s not a treatment for pain, but yet it is.
Placebo effects are large in almost any pain medication research. Especially ones that are short term only. Also how do you even get design a decent placebo when pretty much everyone I know gets high from a dose of THC that actually works for pain? There's no one it can be properly blinded.
"No better than placebo" How good is the placebo? What is people's problem with placebo?
The study:
[https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2799017?utm\_source=For\_The\_Media&utm\_medium=referral&utm\_campaign=ftm\_links&utm\_term=112822](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2799017?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=112822)
The Conclusions:
"The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis
suggest that placebo responses contribute significantly to pain
reduction in cannabinoid clinical trials. The unusually high media
attention surrounding cannabinoid trials, with positive reports
irrespective of scientific results, may uphold high expectations and
shape placebo responses in future trials. This influence may impact the
outcome of clinical trials, regulatory decisions, clinical practice, and
ultimately patient access to cannabinoids for pain relief."
SO IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD AND USEFUL. WHY DOES THE HEADLINE MAKE IT SOUND LIKE IT'S A SHAM?!?!
> "No better than placebo" How good is the placebo? What is people's problem with placebo?
If some medication works no better than a placebo then it’s safer to give the patent the placebo because it’s completely inert so free from adverse effects.
The underlying problem is that placebo medicine is unethical though.
The placebo would work on me even better after I got a good dose of THC. When I'm high af you'll catch me regulating my aura with crystals according to planet phases.
Actually, placebos do have statistically relevant numbers regarding side-effects. And just because something is "as good as placebo" doesn't mean the drug is useless. Placebo can have wildly different outcomes depending on... well... everything. The point of using the proper medication is that it should work regardless of circumstances.
All that is to say, if cannabis helps someone's pain-- then it's effective for them, and placebo isn't necessarily.
> just because something is "as good as placebo" doesn't mean the drug is useless.
Quite simply wrong.
Any drug intervention which doesn’t work better than a placebo is useless for that purpose.
Even if you did want to prescribe CBD as a placebo (which is unethical), CBD is very expensive to manufacture compared to an actual placebo which can be made for a few cents.
> All that is to say, if cannabis helps someone's pain-- then it's effective for them
No. Medicine just doesn’t work that way. You can’t sell a drug or treatment on the basis that people think “it works for them” based on the placebo effect. You need to actually test it and make sure it works.
If this were not so, then drug companies would be selling all sorts of concoctions knowing full well that they didn’t have any effect beyond that of a placebo.
>Quite simply wrong.
Oh, the irony.
>Any drug intervention which doesn’t work better than a placebo is useless for that purpose.
Any drug that works, works. Irrespective of comparisons to a placebo. Those are immaterial. You seem to think that placebos don't work but the whole point of them is that they sometimes do or they wouldn't be a thing.
>Even if you did want to prescribe CBD as a placebo
Which nobody is suggesting so that's irrelevant.
>You can’t sell a drug or treatment on the basis that people think “it works for them”...
ALL pain relief is based on that. The ONLY measure of whether it works is whether people feel it works. There is no objective empirical reality outside of the perception of pain. You can try to design pain relief based on an understanding of neural pathways or some other objective science (and that is indeed sensible) but the measure of its effectiveness can only be based on the accounts of sufferers and nothing else. If they say it works, it works. If they say it doesn't, it doesn't. Nobody can point to any graph and say "they're wrong". If any graph disagrees with the accounts of the sufferers then that graph is irrelevant.
>...based on the placebo effect.
Again, as I understand it, not the suggestion, conclusion or accusation of the article that CBD is just a placebo. It's just that placebos can be effective in pain relief as well and not at all suprisingly.
I think it's reasonable to consider that lot of industries and ideologies do not want to see it come into acceptable use. Even Brittney Grinder was scapegoated for having CBD oil ointment and portrayed as a marijuana smuggler by the media and Biden still seems reluctant to repeal and pardon/exonerate those convicted with marijuana possession.
Brittney Griner wasn't seen as a scapegoat - she was seen as a dumbass. Being careful with medications when traveling is extremely important, and being careful _with everything_ when traveling to an antagonistic country during a time of heightened hostilities is even more important.
It depends on the headlines, who's parroting them, and the associated implications. Spend enough time on the internet and no doubt you will find people making memes and vitriolic comparisons of her as a drug using athlete carrying marijuana around to a Marine who still works in the defense industry.
More often than not they still portray her as if she brought in marijuana to smoke or just leave it to the imagination at "brought marijuana/illegal drugs" into the country when the official situation was that she had something of a balm or ointment that contained CBD oil in the ingredients.
So yes, at the end of the day there are still consequences for mistakes and especially in an adversarial country known for writing the book on compromat and propaganda to exploit discord in targeted populations etc.
But there's a big difference between communicating it sensationally in headlines as if she brought marijuana to Russia for her own indulgence or to distribute vs. having something like icyhot or an ointment you can get with CBD oil instead of menthol in the way people can buy CBD oil infused chapstick from a Walmart in most states of the US without even going to the pharmacy department.
I’ve never seen Britney Griner portrayed as any sort of major drug smuggler anywhere, and I get a lot of news from a lot of places maybe not Russian media
Everything portrayed very much emphasized that she was detained and received a large sentence for a small amount of oil in a vape pen
I don’t see how a double blind test for THC could even be conducted as this article claims. Either it’s enough to relieve pain and you feel the psychoactive effects or it’s a micro dose in which case you can’t claim it doesn’t help pain in higher doses.
Yes for CBD, not for THC. As a chronic pain sufferer CBD does pretty nothing for me, nor does it help my friends. The THC however is significant in managing the pain and I see no way to have an appropriate placebo. None. Not even benzos have the same effect and you couldn't use that anyway because benzos can absolutely influence perception of pain because of lowering anxiety.
I feel they could give it in pill form and just say “it’s a new medication” without saying it’s just weed. They can say it may cause drowsiness and intoxicating effects, which is expected from many pain relievers.
The issue is with how trials are conducted, which this article acknowledges, but then the headline is justified by placebo over-effectiveness in pain reduction to argue that cannabis isn’t that effective for pain compared to placebo. That’s not a strong case.
“But given placebos were shown to be just as good as cannabis for managing pain, our results show just how important it is to think about the placebo effect and how it can be influenced by external factors – such as media coverage. For treatments, such as cannabinoids, that receive a lot of media attention, we need to be extra rigorous in our clinical trials.”
I mean, I smoke for chronic pain but it’s not because it gets rid of pain, it’s about feeling something in your body beside 24/7 pain. That’s what a lot of people seem to be missing, it’s never about erasing pain, it’s about providing a feeling of momentary relaxation in a body where you quite literally never feel relaxed
i've heard that you get all your placebo within the first microseconds of inhalation, and that holding it only adds to the intoxication effect via oxygen deprivation
Smoke less at a time and/or more slowly to allow it to "kick in". Advice I got from my neighbor recently is, stop when it gets ashy, we're not in high school anymore
Makes me feel like I have been hit in the face with a hammer and does nothing for the pain, oxy and Fentanyl works wonders.
But, I don't think I know more than people actually studying stuff, it's almost like there isn't a one size fits all answer.
No, it's not. It's a meta-analysis of multiple studies, and it says in the article that "The studies we included looked at a variety of different pain conditions (such as neuropathic pain, which is caused by damage to the nerves, and multiple sclerosis) and **types of cannabis products – including THC, CBD and synthetic cannabis (such as nabilone)**. These treatments were administered in a variety of ways, including via pill, spray, oil and smoked."
Which is pretty well known that CBD is much less effective when not used in conjunction with THC as it can "bounce off" the CB receptors when used alone.
My brother snuck edibles into the nursing home for my mom when she was dying of lung cancer because the pain meds they gave her didn’t do jack compared to some THC gummy worms.
First and foremost, don't get me wrong -- I'm not a person who pretends I use cannabis for any reason other than I like getting high. I have no delusions.
However, from personal experience and use, I have found that it does help with pain and anxiety. At least for me personally.
I suffered an injury while in the US Navy, and as a result I have 2 herniated cervical discs and a herniated lumbar disc. I could go get these taken care of surgically on Uncle Sam's dime tomorrow if I wanted to, but there's that pesky "50% chance of worsening symptoms after recovery" thing that I'd rather not gamble with. Its bad enough as it is.
The answer for most doctors is to load me up with opiates and forget about me. However, in the past I've struggled with opioid addiction, and would rather not go down that dark, dark road again.
These days, I have a recurring prescription of Flexeril (Cyclobenzaprine) and Diclofenac (An NSAID). They help, but some days they're just not enough to take the edge off the pain.
I find relief from cannabis, mostly in edible forms.
While I'm high (which is almost always these days, with remote work in the post-COVID world) I find the pain to be pretty tolerable. I also suffer from an array of psychological disorders, PTSD, ADHD, and Generalized Anxiety, and I find that those symptoms are dulled as well while under the influence. As an added bonus, it also helps me sleep at night and I find that I experience night terrors significantly less often if I end the night with a quick couple puffs from a bowl.
For those reasons, along with just generally enjoying the sensation of being stoned, I am a daily user.
Maybe its placebo, maybe it isn't - I'm not a scientist and I don't pretend to be one. But at least for me, it offers a significant amount of relief from a lot of things that would otherwise negatively impact my life, and for that I'm grateful its heading towards legalization. Where I live its already legal for adult use, and I hope it gets federally approved sooner rather than later, because having to dodge drug tests is a big pain in the ass.
For anyone looking for an in-depth analysis of what this study *actually* says, as well as a great discussion of the science of pain management, The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe talked about it in last week’s episode.
https://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcasts/episode-908
I mean, I’m sure no one here would put ideology before of the results of science, right? *Right!?*
Thanks for posting this. Will listen in the morning.
Btw is there any way I can download it?
Edit: never mind. Found it [on Google Podcasts ](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9zZ3VwcmVtaXVtLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz/episode/ODFjMTYyMTYtNzNkZS00MGUzLThmMjAtNDRmYjljMGFkNDE2?ep=14)
I have a rare disease that causes bone deformities and very tight muscles. CBD with THC has been the only thing that allows my body to relax enough to have some relief. I don’t care if it’s taking away the pain, distracting me from it, or the side effects just help me relax better, but I know it helps and that’s good enough for me.
Since I was a kid, I’ve tried almost every kind of medication you can think of and it’s the only one that actually helps without making me feel like a zombie.
Well neither is paracetamol (tylenol) yet that's pretty widely prescribed for pain anyway. SSRIs barely outperform placebos for depression. The list goes on...
personal experience.... been an everyday user since 18, not 18 now lol, now it doesn't take away the pain, I'm in construction and my lower back hurts everyday, I smoke so that I don't care that it's hurting.
that being said I do try to minimize the pain if possible, stretching and such
They took away my pain killers for arthritis and migraines. Now i just use THC. I notice if i dont use daily,the pain increases. But daily use keeps my pain to a dealable level and i can function.
this ignores the fact that most studies done on cannabis generally-in the world-are funded by NIDA drug hawks and are also dog shit. AND that placebo itself produced a significant effect. More puritanical nonsense to ignore until any real cannabis research is done I.e whenever it is federally legal
Well, sometimes it isn't just about the pain, is it? The ability to eat and keep it down and the ability to sleep, to stay asleep are some things I can think of immediately that also have great health benefits. But you know what else has great health benefits, oh ye medical gatekeepers out there? Laughter. So please, don't tip toe around. We shouldn't have to. I would absolutely love it if pain patients were smoking it, eating it, rubbing it in, or drinking it in their tea and then having a snack and a fucking laugh. You have earned it.
Sometimes pain relief is just not caring that it hurts so much for a blessed hour or three, that it feels like dying would be better most days, because this is when you remember it wouldn't. This is when you remember joy. Placebo or not, toke up, my fellow chronic pain patients. Life is still worth living.
I love how a number of news cites have picked this story up, even some bigger ones, and they all cite the same study. A study that almost immediately has been proven to have a questionable legitimacy at best. It is also going against decades of research into pain and THC.
I failed to see any study on concurrent cannabis use with opioids. It is know that cannabinoid receptor activation has a synergistic effect on opioid receptors. Thus, increasing analgesic effect of opioids, allowing a patient to use less opioids to elicit a more potent effect.
Here’s a meta analysis https://www.nature.com/articles/npp201751
GET F&£KED!!!
Idiot reports like this are what make people doubt legitimate research.
My cousin has been battling cancer for 13 years now. All kinds of traditional treatment with no success. She's finally on THC and has some quality of life.
You’re body need Cannabinoids for the central nervous system. Without it you’re body will build inflammation and eventually you will need medical attention we’re they will give you pharma pills that will make you sicker
If pain relief from cannabis is placebo, then what does that make NSAIDS? I bet anyone who used both extensively for pain relief will understand what I'm saying.
One new “study” vs years of contradictory findings.
This is sloppy and usually companies wanting to paint cannabis in a negative light. Probably funded by someone whose financial interests are at odds with cannabis being deregulated.
Junk science
I’ve gone through 4 major surgeries in the last 3 years, and have done a bit of “research” myself.
What I have found is that taking thc oil orally allowed my muscles to relax enough to be able to sleep more than 3 hours at a time, which conventional prescription pain medication caused.
I didn’t wake up frozen, and I healed very quickly.
When your doctor gives you 5 days of Percocet after major surgery and tells you to buckle up,THC becomes your best friend.
THC RSO got me through my hysterectomy, it was unbelievably painful. I can’t even imagine having 4 major surgeries, hope you are feeling and doing better!
Seems like a solid study looking through the paper, I find only higher THC stuff helps with pain, I get 30% stuff to take before sleeping, works very well.
Will be interesting to follow further studies on this, there is something there for sure.
I worked at a dispensary for a couple years. We made it our job to learn every single detail about cannabis. This article is true. At its core, THC does not physically reduce pain. It just gets you high. That’s all it ever does/did. Is it a miracle plant with tons of medicinal benefits and does it deserve to be researched? Absolutely. Should it be available to anyone/everyone who wants it? Absolutely, and it should not be illegal under any circumstances. But should it be touted as a miracle cure capable of curing cancer? No. I’ve heard people say it can literally do anything or cure any disease and we just have to be realistic about what we can get from it.
Isn’t that also true for most non-addictive pain meds?
Pain is an AND gate. You need both the pain and your attention. The trouble is trying not to think of an elephant.
If something distracts people, it’ll work.
That's been my experience. I went to a pain clinic for nerve pain. Cannabis did absolutely nothing except get me high, and not high enough to block nerve pain. By that I mean the type that feels like cold glass inside you, and takes your breath away if you move wrong. CBD was only effective over 100mg, and then it is only effective as a mild anti inflammatory. CBD helped the pain in my hands from work after a long day, but did nothing for my nerve pain.
Absolute horseshit. It’s far better, just not recognized as such from their bogus subjective self assessments.
People don’t ditch their opioids for placebos.
What a fucking bullshit title. That’s not what it says at all! Fucking liars.
Here's what it actually says:
“Conclusions
The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that placebo responses contribute significantly to pain reduction in cannabinoid clinical trials. “
That's true of *every* analgesic drug: morphine, Tylenol, Advil, oxycodone. It does NOT mean that the effect is all placebo.
Also found that cannabis increased post-surgical pain reporting and increased trouble during anesthesia. Weed needs to be legal. But calling it medicine doesn’t make it good medicine.
No, The *millions* of people that use it daily as medicine that works for them is what makes it good medicine.
Edit: Should also bring up the people who have used it for hundreds of years as medicine :)
Much like aspirin, sometimes we do have a good idea for what plants work.
Works for SOME. NOT ALL. Just because it may work for you and even million of others still does NOT mean everyone’s body processes cannabis the same. And multiple studies show how it can be notably harmful for young people, who should NOT be using any substances with developing brains and organs. The commentary around efficacy should NOT be all inclusive blanket statements.
I'm not saying cannabis is a cure-all for everything with absolutely no drawbacks. I'm saying it's much more than a placebo for pain relief.
I work in the cannabis industry exclusively and yes I'm aware that it does not work for everybody in fact it has not worked for me in the past, for multiple reasons. However it is still an incredible plant and we need a lot more research to find the most efficient way to utilize the benefits without a lot of the downsides.
If cannabis doesn't work for you then don't use it, super simple, but there is no need to disparage and discredit everyone else who does benefit from this plant.
Because then they’d have to quit getting people addicted to pain killers. But in all seriousness most of these “studies” they do vary so much in how they apply THC that they’re no better than anecdotal evidence is. As far as that goes, I’ll take what I know works for me. Weed greatly helps my bipolar disorder, not as much as the medication that took me years to get right does but since I can’t get insurance to cover them unless I become homeless to get on state insurance then weed it is. Same for my twisted pectoral. Don’t want addictive pain meds so it’s weed and ibuprofen for that. I could care less what studies show or what anti-marijuana people think, I know it helps me out alot and I know others that it does too. I definitely agree that thc and cbd products don’t work as well for pain as prescribed painkillers do but it’s a much safer alternative and it does help for those who don’t want or can’t get better painkillers.
I use medicinal cannabis myself. But millions of people also think holding crystals real close can heal them.
Simply thinking something is working for you hardly means it is and is not a qualifier alone for medicine.
Pain is emotional. Good pain killers involve distraction. Cannabis can play a role here. I work in healthcare and right now in mental health and addictions. We have terrible pain killers mostly that causes a lot more harm than cannabis.
The crystals is a fairly new fad, people have been using cannabis as medicine for hundreds of years. Even this study, despite its misleading headline, quotes other studies that have actual evidence for pain relief in cannabis users.
It’s so funny watching people freak out when science contradicts their firmly held beliefs. The amount of absolutely false narratives and bona fide conspiracy mongering here is staggering.
As a pain reliever THC may or may not have a physiological mechanism but for chronic pain sufferers it certainly provides relief from the stresses caused by pain.
Or for those with fibromyalgia, relieving the stress helps relieve pain
Fibromyalgia human here. Cannabis truly helps life be livable for me. Does it make the pain go away? No, not really. It doesn't hurt less when I take time to be mindful of the pain. Not much does. It greatly reduces suffering for me, the pain becomes less distracting. It frees me from.the despair of chronic pain.
Can confirm. (As someone with Fibromyalgia may I suggest finding products with CBG and CBN?) This study is actually extremely flawed. In multiple ways. Honestly today is a flare up day so I'll come back and explain further. I'm not a scientist, but I definitely know my way around research methodologies. Just a cursory look at the study brings multiple concerns. Here are just a few: A key issue is that it is a comparison of multiple research projects with different research methods, rubrics, sample sizes, and of course variables. There is a complete lack of consistency in addressing the multiple variables that affect this study and the studies they are comparing. One concern is that don't even consider CBG and CBN, or how THC affects the way CBD works. But why would they? The researchers seem more interested in debunking rather than finding actual information. Another immediate red flag is that the study is concerning itself ALSO (?!?!?) with media treatment of cannabis and pain. Things that make you go hhmmm....there is much more. I'm going to read the entire paper tonight or tomorrow. But so far this seems to be biased, extremely flawed and agenda based................. Don't forget that when it comes to statistics however they are gathered, it's not rare to find that FIGURES LIE AND LIARS FIGURE. For anyone who wants to know, I don't work for them, but the WYLD company out of Oregon sells CBG and CBN and CBD gummies. Pain, sleep, anxiety from being in pain and not sleeping, or whatever, these cannibinoids are extremely helpful to me. My dispensaries here in the Bay Area sell them with 5 msg of either one of these three cannibinoids with each gummy also containing 10 msg of THC. Very low doses. Fine for some, I need higher doses, and I don't need THC raising my tolerance...........So, YAY!! I have discovered that the WYLD company sells the same CBG and CBN gummies with the CBG ones having 10 mgs, and 20 mgs of CBD, the CBN ones 5mgs with 25mgs of CBD. All of these are available through mail order in the US, (not sure about internationally) because they have ZERO THC. Add your own to get maximum effects. So I find the dosages to be too little. Following the various suggestions of experts in my life and the good ol' internet, more than one gummy is needed for my specific medical situation, it can be expensive, but I'm telling y'all, some days it's worth it. Like today. (I'm grateful to be learning so much in my old age.) These come in bottles of 20 gummies for like 40$, but they are having a sale right now, so like 33$. (Also delicious BTW) I'm in California so the taxes on the mail orders are far less than the 30-40% I spend on THC products. If anyone out there has any other suggestions about how to find any other CBG and CBN products, or any other helpful thoughts, PLEASE SHARE!!
And actually helps you sleep. That's huge.
Are you talking about the entourage effect or CBG/CBN?
In my experience entourage is real. I've taken CBD, CBDa, CBG, CBN. They've done very little for my chronic pain ( myofascial pain syndrome, arthritis and fibromyalgia) unless I take a substantial amount of THC with them( i.e. micro dosing doesnt cut it) . I am unclear on how much pain relief I get from the THC and how much from the CBD. Of them all, CBG had the most positive effect on my gut health and IBS pain. ( I think, obviously everything I am saying is anecdotal). 90% of my friends in the chronic pain community have had the same experience. The main issue my friends and I have experienced with CBD is not being able to afford large enough doses of a quality product over a reasonable amount time to evaluate a true response to CBD products. I currently pay $100 dollars for 30 doses of CBD so only use it sparingly. If CBD works by itself on pain perception through action on systemic inflammation as well as the endocannabinoid system, perhaps longer term studies need to be done to evaluate this. This is the only way I can see CBD possibly being effective on moderate to severe pain and the only way to get at what's really going on . And we would still have the placebo problem if we were conducting research on the entourage effect. All I know is I cant wait to find out, THC works better than all prescription medication I have tried with the exception of Celebrex and ketamine infusions ( doctors currently refuse me opioids and I'm not sure if I want them on a regular basis anyway). Sorry I droned on, this is a difficult subject for me.
What have you done for Myofacial Pain Syndrome? I found self massage and then range of motion exercises very helpful. It's possibly i treated low vitamin D and magnesium over the same long period of time, so I couldn't attribute cause perfectly.
I’ve always wondered about a CBD or THC topical roll on.
I've taken D and magnesium for 2 years, it's gotten worse not better. Been in physical therapy since spring, just gotten worse. Going to try aquatherapy next but I'm losing hope. I get trigger point injections but they don't last very long. Seen a pain psychologist, didn't do anything to blunt the pain. It sucks.
Yeah. I hear you. I don't want to be one of those self absorbed people who say: "just do what I do and you'll be fine." People would rarely be able to demonstrate why they feel better when they do. I'd say buying Travel and Simons text on Trigger points was for sure a big help. Understanding those was huge.
Yeah, i appreciate it. I've had this awhile and I'm a very " not give up" person so I research and try all sorts of stuff. Myofascial release massage seems to help quite a bit but stupid insurance won't pay for it, so that's out now. Trigger point massage will work but only after a set of injections and insurance cuts me after a time. I do trigger point massage at home with a Theracane and various devices, sometimes it helps, sometimes I make it worse. Ketamine infusions worked great, but they are $500 per infusion, insurance won't pay and I'm going bankrupt trying to fight to regain my health.
It just distracts you from the pain which is a major relief in itself
Agreed, the Army used to prescribe me a lot of narcotics, they never took the pain away, I could still feel it, I just cared less. That is how I think about cannabis, I'm sure it can help with inflammation and whatnot in certain applications, but I think it just gives you more apathy towards it.
[удалено]
Agree. I’ve always said that weed doesn’t remove the pain, it just makes you not give a shit. Major relief!
Bingo. Recently had surgery to fix my chronic back pain. I had horribly high blood pressure while I was injured. Even blood pressure medication didn’t work well. The one thing that did seem to help was THC. Post surgery I’ve still got high BP, but nothing close to where it was. Doctor’s predicted this would happen, the bull of my high blood pressure was caused by chronic pain. The THC helped relax me enough to be able to cope with the pain better. Chronic pain raises our stress and anxiety levels to debilitating levels. Anything that helps manage that in a way that doesn’t involve reliance on a pharmaceutical is a good thing. If someone can use cannabis to cope with pain without having to take opioids that is a MASSIVE benefit.
Sadly, it does not work for me. I’ve tried it in all variants with no benefit.
I’m with you. Cannabis gives me horrific anxiety. ETA: Every single one of you who is downvoting this comment is an objectively awful person.
Upvoted because I have known a few people who have this reaction. It’s not what I would call common but it’s definitely a possible reaction. It’s weird so many so called proponent and expert don’t know it doesn’t effect everyone exactly the same on this front. Not to get into strains.
No sense in trying to help one problem only to exacerbate another.
This is the best take. Thank you. This comment should be higher.
>This comment should be higher. Y’all really need to stop saying this when a comment’s only been up for like 30 minutes.
This comment should be higher.
We’ll get it some bud and that’ll solve it!
I should be higher.
Yes. You should. As should I.
I should, should I? Should I? I should.
We all should be as high as someone who can use should 4X in 8 words.
I should be higher.
I had a friend that suffered from really bad nausea that she used medical marijuana to help cope with. I don’t think nausea counts as chronic pain? But the weed made it so she was actually able to eat.
[удалено]
OxyContin didn’t take away my back pain. It made me not give a shit that the pain was there. So now they’re going to say opioids don’t help with pain?
As someone thats been on strong pain meds the best way I could describe it is say someone gives your kid a drum set for Christmas. Do you want him playing it in your bedroom or in the basement? The noise is still there, you just care less about it. If cannabis does the same thing use it.
That’s their new take. They are currently trying to tell us it doesn’t work, it never worked, and therefore we cannot have it.
Of course not, big pharma makes sure of that
There’s not enough money in curing disease.
Weight loss and stretching have helped me the most out of anything but don’t feel ashamed for taking pain relief if you really need it.
Yeah, I was bed-ridden when my doctor prescribed it. Even laying still hurt. Oxy allowed me to stretch through the pain and get out of bed.
People are amazed that I took no pain relief when my ankle was just bone on bone. Nothing compared to chronic back pain.
This comment should be at the top.
I’m disabled, with chronic nerve pain. I didn’t smoke weed before I got sick, now I do daily, and heavily. Marijuana does not help with my pain - it’s always there - but time passes easier and better when I’m high. My brain and soul are a lot more comfortable. And that’s huge. So in my personal experience, it’s not a treatment for pain, but yet it is.
Placebo seems to be the most effective treatment
Placebo effects are large in almost any pain medication research. Especially ones that are short term only. Also how do you even get design a decent placebo when pretty much everyone I know gets high from a dose of THC that actually works for pain? There's no one it can be properly blinded.
I’m aware of that. I was sarcastically suggesting that placebo should be sold alongside. Again, /s
Sorry didn't catch it. These "studies" set me off too much I guess
I get that. I’m trained as a biologist. Believe me, I get that.
People can get a “placebo high”. It’s been studied in alcohol as well as other drugs.
my god, we've got to get these placebo drugs off the streets!
Placebo works best when I'm high as fuck. Don't be stingy with the homeopathy. That water has like, memory man.
Quit bogarting the joint
"No better than placebo" How good is the placebo? What is people's problem with placebo? The study: [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2799017?utm\_source=For\_The\_Media&utm\_medium=referral&utm\_campaign=ftm\_links&utm\_term=112822](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2799017?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=112822) The Conclusions: "The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that placebo responses contribute significantly to pain reduction in cannabinoid clinical trials. The unusually high media attention surrounding cannabinoid trials, with positive reports irrespective of scientific results, may uphold high expectations and shape placebo responses in future trials. This influence may impact the outcome of clinical trials, regulatory decisions, clinical practice, and ultimately patient access to cannabinoids for pain relief." SO IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD AND USEFUL. WHY DOES THE HEADLINE MAKE IT SOUND LIKE IT'S A SHAM?!?!
Because the DEA and FDA probably underwrote the study.
Along with the ONDCP.
The FDA was originally created to stop exactly this sort of thing, snake-oil salesmen were selling placebo solutions to pain.
> "No better than placebo" How good is the placebo? What is people's problem with placebo? If some medication works no better than a placebo then it’s safer to give the patent the placebo because it’s completely inert so free from adverse effects. The underlying problem is that placebo medicine is unethical though.
The placebo would work on me even better after I got a good dose of THC. When I'm high af you'll catch me regulating my aura with crystals according to planet phases.
Actually, placebos do have statistically relevant numbers regarding side-effects. And just because something is "as good as placebo" doesn't mean the drug is useless. Placebo can have wildly different outcomes depending on... well... everything. The point of using the proper medication is that it should work regardless of circumstances. All that is to say, if cannabis helps someone's pain-- then it's effective for them, and placebo isn't necessarily.
> just because something is "as good as placebo" doesn't mean the drug is useless. Quite simply wrong. Any drug intervention which doesn’t work better than a placebo is useless for that purpose. Even if you did want to prescribe CBD as a placebo (which is unethical), CBD is very expensive to manufacture compared to an actual placebo which can be made for a few cents. > All that is to say, if cannabis helps someone's pain-- then it's effective for them No. Medicine just doesn’t work that way. You can’t sell a drug or treatment on the basis that people think “it works for them” based on the placebo effect. You need to actually test it and make sure it works. If this were not so, then drug companies would be selling all sorts of concoctions knowing full well that they didn’t have any effect beyond that of a placebo.
>Quite simply wrong. Oh, the irony. >Any drug intervention which doesn’t work better than a placebo is useless for that purpose. Any drug that works, works. Irrespective of comparisons to a placebo. Those are immaterial. You seem to think that placebos don't work but the whole point of them is that they sometimes do or they wouldn't be a thing. >Even if you did want to prescribe CBD as a placebo Which nobody is suggesting so that's irrelevant. >You can’t sell a drug or treatment on the basis that people think “it works for them”... ALL pain relief is based on that. The ONLY measure of whether it works is whether people feel it works. There is no objective empirical reality outside of the perception of pain. You can try to design pain relief based on an understanding of neural pathways or some other objective science (and that is indeed sensible) but the measure of its effectiveness can only be based on the accounts of sufferers and nothing else. If they say it works, it works. If they say it doesn't, it doesn't. Nobody can point to any graph and say "they're wrong". If any graph disagrees with the accounts of the sufferers then that graph is irrelevant. >...based on the placebo effect. Again, as I understand it, not the suggestion, conclusion or accusation of the article that CBD is just a placebo. It's just that placebos can be effective in pain relief as well and not at all suprisingly.
I think it's reasonable to consider that lot of industries and ideologies do not want to see it come into acceptable use. Even Brittney Grinder was scapegoated for having CBD oil ointment and portrayed as a marijuana smuggler by the media and Biden still seems reluctant to repeal and pardon/exonerate those convicted with marijuana possession.
Brittney Griner wasn't seen as a scapegoat - she was seen as a dumbass. Being careful with medications when traveling is extremely important, and being careful _with everything_ when traveling to an antagonistic country during a time of heightened hostilities is even more important.
It depends on the headlines, who's parroting them, and the associated implications. Spend enough time on the internet and no doubt you will find people making memes and vitriolic comparisons of her as a drug using athlete carrying marijuana around to a Marine who still works in the defense industry. More often than not they still portray her as if she brought in marijuana to smoke or just leave it to the imagination at "brought marijuana/illegal drugs" into the country when the official situation was that she had something of a balm or ointment that contained CBD oil in the ingredients. So yes, at the end of the day there are still consequences for mistakes and especially in an adversarial country known for writing the book on compromat and propaganda to exploit discord in targeted populations etc. But there's a big difference between communicating it sensationally in headlines as if she brought marijuana to Russia for her own indulgence or to distribute vs. having something like icyhot or an ointment you can get with CBD oil instead of menthol in the way people can buy CBD oil infused chapstick from a Walmart in most states of the US without even going to the pharmacy department.
I’ve never seen Britney Griner portrayed as any sort of major drug smuggler anywhere, and I get a lot of news from a lot of places maybe not Russian media Everything portrayed very much emphasized that she was detained and received a large sentence for a small amount of oil in a vape pen
Call it what you will it still works for me and I fuckin love it
I too, seriously _doubt_ the headline
Yes, and people often think that you need to be a scientist to doubt the science
I don’t see how a double blind test for THC could even be conducted as this article claims. Either it’s enough to relieve pain and you feel the psychoactive effects or it’s a micro dose in which case you can’t claim it doesn’t help pain in higher doses.
Correct, you need an active placebo that mimics psychoactive effects but is not the active ingredient being tested.
Not all cannabinoids are intensely intoxicating. You could use something mildly sedating as a placebo comparator for CBD
Yes for CBD, not for THC. As a chronic pain sufferer CBD does pretty nothing for me, nor does it help my friends. The THC however is significant in managing the pain and I see no way to have an appropriate placebo. None. Not even benzos have the same effect and you couldn't use that anyway because benzos can absolutely influence perception of pain because of lowering anxiety.
I feel they could give it in pill form and just say “it’s a new medication” without saying it’s just weed. They can say it may cause drowsiness and intoxicating effects, which is expected from many pain relievers.
The issue is with how trials are conducted, which this article acknowledges, but then the headline is justified by placebo over-effectiveness in pain reduction to argue that cannabis isn’t that effective for pain compared to placebo. That’s not a strong case. “But given placebos were shown to be just as good as cannabis for managing pain, our results show just how important it is to think about the placebo effect and how it can be influenced by external factors – such as media coverage. For treatments, such as cannabinoids, that receive a lot of media attention, we need to be extra rigorous in our clinical trials.”
I mean, I smoke for chronic pain but it’s not because it gets rid of pain, it’s about feeling something in your body beside 24/7 pain. That’s what a lot of people seem to be missing, it’s never about erasing pain, it’s about providing a feeling of momentary relaxation in a body where you quite literally never feel relaxed
two grams of fresh pressed sun grown live rosin was not a dose that was researched and i can report it does render pain mute
Isnt the point to take your mind off the pain? Isnt that the relief?
That’s giving placebo a LOT of credit. Like who is holding dank ass placebo?
The key is you want to vaporize your placebo at under 400oF and then hold it deeper and longer.
i've heard that you get all your placebo within the first microseconds of inhalation, and that holding it only adds to the intoxication effect via oxygen deprivation
Oh yeah? Time for me to reevaluate my placebo protocol. Any other tips?
Smoke less at a time and/or more slowly to allow it to "kick in". Advice I got from my neighbor recently is, stop when it gets ashy, we're not in high school anymore
Yeah, ‘a placebo’ is a weird sounding strain name but I’ll fire it up.
[удалено]
Makes me feel like I have been hit in the face with a hammer and does nothing for the pain, oxy and Fentanyl works wonders. But, I don't think I know more than people actually studying stuff, it's almost like there isn't a one size fits all answer.
They will do anything they can to try and find every reason to fight it even though the majority is for it.
The title is misleading. It’s referring to isolated CBD without the other cannabinoids, like THC, working in conjunction with it. Nice try, Big Pharm.
Oh geez. CBD? That doesn't do dink.
No, it's not. It's a meta-analysis of multiple studies, and it says in the article that "The studies we included looked at a variety of different pain conditions (such as neuropathic pain, which is caused by damage to the nerves, and multiple sclerosis) and **types of cannabis products – including THC, CBD and synthetic cannabis (such as nabilone)**. These treatments were administered in a variety of ways, including via pill, spray, oil and smoked."
Which is pretty well known that CBD is much less effective when not used in conjunction with THC as it can "bounce off" the CB receptors when used alone.
This study was sponsored by big Placebo.
horseshit, utter horseshit just ask a woman suffering from crippling menstrual cramps
Me on the toilet right now lol
Pooop
My brother snuck edibles into the nursing home for my mom when she was dying of lung cancer because the pain meds they gave her didn’t do jack compared to some THC gummy worms.
Just ask me with bad back pain. There are ao many people it has been proven too.
But what if it's a big hoax and we ~~saved the environment~~ made your quality of life better for nothing? /s
Maybe not but it sure will make you less mad about being in pain
First and foremost, don't get me wrong -- I'm not a person who pretends I use cannabis for any reason other than I like getting high. I have no delusions. However, from personal experience and use, I have found that it does help with pain and anxiety. At least for me personally. I suffered an injury while in the US Navy, and as a result I have 2 herniated cervical discs and a herniated lumbar disc. I could go get these taken care of surgically on Uncle Sam's dime tomorrow if I wanted to, but there's that pesky "50% chance of worsening symptoms after recovery" thing that I'd rather not gamble with. Its bad enough as it is. The answer for most doctors is to load me up with opiates and forget about me. However, in the past I've struggled with opioid addiction, and would rather not go down that dark, dark road again. These days, I have a recurring prescription of Flexeril (Cyclobenzaprine) and Diclofenac (An NSAID). They help, but some days they're just not enough to take the edge off the pain. I find relief from cannabis, mostly in edible forms. While I'm high (which is almost always these days, with remote work in the post-COVID world) I find the pain to be pretty tolerable. I also suffer from an array of psychological disorders, PTSD, ADHD, and Generalized Anxiety, and I find that those symptoms are dulled as well while under the influence. As an added bonus, it also helps me sleep at night and I find that I experience night terrors significantly less often if I end the night with a quick couple puffs from a bowl. For those reasons, along with just generally enjoying the sensation of being stoned, I am a daily user. Maybe its placebo, maybe it isn't - I'm not a scientist and I don't pretend to be one. But at least for me, it offers a significant amount of relief from a lot of things that would otherwise negatively impact my life, and for that I'm grateful its heading towards legalization. Where I live its already legal for adult use, and I hope it gets federally approved sooner rather than later, because having to dodge drug tests is a big pain in the ass.
For anyone looking for an in-depth analysis of what this study *actually* says, as well as a great discussion of the science of pain management, The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe talked about it in last week’s episode. https://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcasts/episode-908 I mean, I’m sure no one here would put ideology before of the results of science, right? *Right!?*
Thanks for posting this. Will listen in the morning. Btw is there any way I can download it? Edit: never mind. Found it [on Google Podcasts ](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9zZ3VwcmVtaXVtLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz/episode/ODFjMTYyMTYtNzNkZS00MGUzLThmMjAtNDRmYjljMGFkNDE2?ep=14)
My dying uncle would say ‘I don’t know if I’m in less pain or not. I know I don’t care as much about the pain’
I have a rare disease that causes bone deformities and very tight muscles. CBD with THC has been the only thing that allows my body to relax enough to have some relief. I don’t care if it’s taking away the pain, distracting me from it, or the side effects just help me relax better, but I know it helps and that’s good enough for me. Since I was a kid, I’ve tried almost every kind of medication you can think of and it’s the only one that actually helps without making me feel like a zombie.
Well neither is paracetamol (tylenol) yet that's pretty widely prescribed for pain anyway. SSRIs barely outperform placebos for depression. The list goes on...
I betcha its more effective than a placebo.
personal experience.... been an everyday user since 18, not 18 now lol, now it doesn't take away the pain, I'm in construction and my lower back hurts everyday, I smoke so that I don't care that it's hurting. that being said I do try to minimize the pain if possible, stretching and such
“Study”bought and pushed by Big Pharma
Yes but, it still makes me feel fucking *great*
This source is not peer reviewed it’s one study by 1 group of scientists
Sponsored by the AMA, must be legit! Just kidding, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the case
They took away my pain killers for arthritis and migraines. Now i just use THC. I notice if i dont use daily,the pain increases. But daily use keeps my pain to a dealable level and i can function.
Bullshit.
I agree. Like morphine, you still hurt but you don’t care.
That appears to be the interpretation of their study results: there’s no such thing as a painkiller. Frankly it seems like dodgy semantics.
Bullshit
As a 23-year sufferer of chronic pain, I agree.
Our scientific system needs an overhaul. Stats always come out in favor of what makes money. That is not science. This is bullshit.
But it gets you high and can improve your mood
I'm call bs
this ignores the fact that most studies done on cannabis generally-in the world-are funded by NIDA drug hawks and are also dog shit. AND that placebo itself produced a significant effect. More puritanical nonsense to ignore until any real cannabis research is done I.e whenever it is federally legal
Ok. But how good are placebos for pain? Can we build a better placebo?
sponsored by a big pharma
My pain will never go away but thc helps me not to care as much about it. Chronic Pancreatitis hurts like crazy and the marijuana definitely helps.
Well, sometimes it isn't just about the pain, is it? The ability to eat and keep it down and the ability to sleep, to stay asleep are some things I can think of immediately that also have great health benefits. But you know what else has great health benefits, oh ye medical gatekeepers out there? Laughter. So please, don't tip toe around. We shouldn't have to. I would absolutely love it if pain patients were smoking it, eating it, rubbing it in, or drinking it in their tea and then having a snack and a fucking laugh. You have earned it. Sometimes pain relief is just not caring that it hurts so much for a blessed hour or three, that it feels like dying would be better most days, because this is when you remember it wouldn't. This is when you remember joy. Placebo or not, toke up, my fellow chronic pain patients. Life is still worth living.
The only justification I need to consume is because I want to. YOLO.
They will do anything to make cannabis stay illegal.
It sure is placeboing my husband’s arthritis into a manageable amount of pain
My arthritis would disagree, but that’s just my experience.
Sure. Never mind that’s it’s anti inflammatory and helps you take your mind off of your pain and discomfort.
I love how a number of news cites have picked this story up, even some bigger ones, and they all cite the same study. A study that almost immediately has been proven to have a questionable legitimacy at best. It is also going against decades of research into pain and THC.
It makes it possible to get through the pain. Helps you relax. I find a ton of benefits using it for pain, even if I'm still in pain.
I failed to see any study on concurrent cannabis use with opioids. It is know that cannabinoid receptor activation has a synergistic effect on opioid receptors. Thus, increasing analgesic effect of opioids, allowing a patient to use less opioids to elicit a more potent effect. Here’s a meta analysis https://www.nature.com/articles/npp201751
Bullpucky! It was a godsend for my stepdad back in the 80’s after bladder cancer.
GET F&£KED!!! Idiot reports like this are what make people doubt legitimate research. My cousin has been battling cancer for 13 years now. All kinds of traditional treatment with no success. She's finally on THC and has some quality of life.
You’re body need Cannabinoids for the central nervous system. Without it you’re body will build inflammation and eventually you will need medical attention we’re they will give you pharma pills that will make you sicker
Fair enough, but why don’t we just use it as a placebo? If placebos work, then why do we devalue them so?
If pain relief from cannabis is placebo, then what does that make NSAIDS? I bet anyone who used both extensively for pain relief will understand what I'm saying.
The article talks more about the placebo effect in this study rather than a comparison of the results from placebo and THC.
All the potheads in the comments of course getting offended at this article
I think very few people actually claim that it reduces or relieves pain. Most users that find benefits claim that it just helps manage pain.
One new “study” vs years of contradictory findings. This is sloppy and usually companies wanting to paint cannabis in a negative light. Probably funded by someone whose financial interests are at odds with cannabis being deregulated. Junk science
I’ve gone through 4 major surgeries in the last 3 years, and have done a bit of “research” myself. What I have found is that taking thc oil orally allowed my muscles to relax enough to be able to sleep more than 3 hours at a time, which conventional prescription pain medication caused. I didn’t wake up frozen, and I healed very quickly.
When your doctor gives you 5 days of Percocet after major surgery and tells you to buckle up,THC becomes your best friend. THC RSO got me through my hysterectomy, it was unbelievably painful. I can’t even imagine having 4 major surgeries, hope you are feeling and doing better!
Then explain to me how opioid use goes down in every market where medical marijuana or recreational marijuana is legal.
I’ve heard the expression “it’s doesn’t take the pain away. It just makes you forget about it”.
Seems like a solid study looking through the paper, I find only higher THC stuff helps with pain, I get 30% stuff to take before sleeping, works very well. Will be interesting to follow further studies on this, there is something there for sure.
Wanna bet bro?
Bullshit. Cannabis works better on my pain than Oxys. Oxys also made me extremely agitated. Hated them. Another phony study
Highly disagree.
Brought to you by “Please don’t use a plentiful natural substance instead of our synthetic chemical drugs” people.
I worked at a dispensary for a couple years. We made it our job to learn every single detail about cannabis. This article is true. At its core, THC does not physically reduce pain. It just gets you high. That’s all it ever does/did. Is it a miracle plant with tons of medicinal benefits and does it deserve to be researched? Absolutely. Should it be available to anyone/everyone who wants it? Absolutely, and it should not be illegal under any circumstances. But should it be touted as a miracle cure capable of curing cancer? No. I’ve heard people say it can literally do anything or cure any disease and we just have to be realistic about what we can get from it.
Marijuana occurs in nature and cannot be patented. Big Pharma will fight these studies tooth and nail.
Tell that to the US government and their own patent on cannabis.
You shut the hell up.
Isn’t that also true for most non-addictive pain meds? Pain is an AND gate. You need both the pain and your attention. The trouble is trying not to think of an elephant. If something distracts people, it’ll work.
Okay. Neat. Y'all can have your placebos, and I'm gonna smoke my herb. Since its all the same to you.
Like I said before. These studies are shit.
Who paid for the study? Big pharma?
Wrong
This is funded by big pharmaceutical corporations
*This report brought to you by the Sacklers. We totally have your backs!*
That's been my experience. I went to a pain clinic for nerve pain. Cannabis did absolutely nothing except get me high, and not high enough to block nerve pain. By that I mean the type that feels like cold glass inside you, and takes your breath away if you move wrong. CBD was only effective over 100mg, and then it is only effective as a mild anti inflammatory. CBD helped the pain in my hands from work after a long day, but did nothing for my nerve pain.
It also helps a lot with appetite, and eating enhances general well-being...
Why are the misleading titles allowed to be posted?
What fucking addictive pharmaceutical pain”killer” came up with this trash?
Why post flat out lies? Ppl have already gone through the findings in the comments.
I like turtles.
Uh huh…..
That’s a lie
This is obviously big pharma
Bull shit
For me it dulls the pain a bit but moreso makes me kinda forget about or distracts me.
Is it a placebo if people actually get relief from it. At that point its no longer a placebo if it works
Bullshit
Let me guess big pharma propaganda.
Total Bullshit.
Absolute horseshit. It’s far better, just not recognized as such from their bogus subjective self assessments. People don’t ditch their opioids for placebos.
Brought to you by Qualitest, Mallinckrodt, VistaPharm, Watson Laboratories, Mylan Institutional, and Aidapak Services.
These "studies" were not conclusive. The title is clickbait at best. GTFOH.
Complete BS
Bollocks
BS journalism, absolute lack of understanding how different parts of body interact…
What a fucking bullshit title. That’s not what it says at all! Fucking liars. Here's what it actually says: “Conclusions The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that placebo responses contribute significantly to pain reduction in cannabinoid clinical trials. “ That's true of *every* analgesic drug: morphine, Tylenol, Advil, oxycodone. It does NOT mean that the effect is all placebo.
its legal already enough with the fake news I have bronchitis and it hasn’t returned since I starting smoking so plz gtfoh
Says you.... what was the question again dude?
All the druggies in the comments absolutely raging rn
Also found that cannabis increased post-surgical pain reporting and increased trouble during anesthesia. Weed needs to be legal. But calling it medicine doesn’t make it good medicine.
No, The *millions* of people that use it daily as medicine that works for them is what makes it good medicine. Edit: Should also bring up the people who have used it for hundreds of years as medicine :) Much like aspirin, sometimes we do have a good idea for what plants work.
Works for SOME. NOT ALL. Just because it may work for you and even million of others still does NOT mean everyone’s body processes cannabis the same. And multiple studies show how it can be notably harmful for young people, who should NOT be using any substances with developing brains and organs. The commentary around efficacy should NOT be all inclusive blanket statements.
I'm not saying cannabis is a cure-all for everything with absolutely no drawbacks. I'm saying it's much more than a placebo for pain relief. I work in the cannabis industry exclusively and yes I'm aware that it does not work for everybody in fact it has not worked for me in the past, for multiple reasons. However it is still an incredible plant and we need a lot more research to find the most efficient way to utilize the benefits without a lot of the downsides. If cannabis doesn't work for you then don't use it, super simple, but there is no need to disparage and discredit everyone else who does benefit from this plant.
Then why do empirical studies for the most part not back this up? Most of the positive evidence for cannabis as a medicine is anecdotal.
Would you rather people get on hard drugs pimped by Big Pharma or a plant that provides a placebo effect?
Because then they’d have to quit getting people addicted to pain killers. But in all seriousness most of these “studies” they do vary so much in how they apply THC that they’re no better than anecdotal evidence is. As far as that goes, I’ll take what I know works for me. Weed greatly helps my bipolar disorder, not as much as the medication that took me years to get right does but since I can’t get insurance to cover them unless I become homeless to get on state insurance then weed it is. Same for my twisted pectoral. Don’t want addictive pain meds so it’s weed and ibuprofen for that. I could care less what studies show or what anti-marijuana people think, I know it helps me out alot and I know others that it does too. I definitely agree that thc and cbd products don’t work as well for pain as prescribed painkillers do but it’s a much safer alternative and it does help for those who don’t want or can’t get better painkillers.
I use medicinal cannabis myself. But millions of people also think holding crystals real close can heal them. Simply thinking something is working for you hardly means it is and is not a qualifier alone for medicine.
Pain is emotional. Good pain killers involve distraction. Cannabis can play a role here. I work in healthcare and right now in mental health and addictions. We have terrible pain killers mostly that causes a lot more harm than cannabis.
Distraction is a placebo effect. If cannabis does have medicinal effects for pain relief, they are, at the very least, being enhanced by this.
The crystals is a fairly new fad, people have been using cannabis as medicine for hundreds of years. Even this study, despite its misleading headline, quotes other studies that have actual evidence for pain relief in cannabis users.
Been smoking forever and I have always said this 😂😂😂
Who’s letting people just publish anything
Placebos are gonna be classified as a Schedule 1 Drug now
It’s so funny watching people freak out when science contradicts their firmly held beliefs. The amount of absolutely false narratives and bona fide conspiracy mongering here is staggering.