cannabis Archives - The Painful Truth

Marijuana and Pain

Marijuana May Help Solve the Opioid Crisis

The opioid crisis is a complex problem with many components, one of which is untreated pain. To the extent that it could be used to help patients manage pain, marijuana might have the potential to become part of the solution.

However, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has made it difficult — although not impossible — for researchers to responsibly explore marijuana’s use in treating pain. Since 1970, the DEA has categorized marijuana as a Schedule I drug “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

How Canada’s Addiction Treatment Approach Compares to the U.S.

Canada and the United States are good neighbors, and share many values.

Although Canada and the United States are part of the North American family, and we feel a kinship to them in so many ways, we have different mindsets about some key issues. Specifically, we do not feel the same way about some healthcare issues.

Differing Treatments to Heroin Addiction

Canada seems to be more progressive than the U.S. and is quicker to see the needs that the U.S. denies — for example, the treatment of heroin addiction with heroin, and the potential benefits of medical marijuana.

Is Marijuana the Holy Grail for Pain Medication? by @LynnRWebsterMD

Is marijuana the holy grail for pain medication?

You might think so by reading the popular press.

An ideal drug therapy is one that is highly effective for a multitude of pain disorders and has low to no toxicity regardless of duration of exposure. Marijuana flirts with this profile—but it is a Trojan horse.

Depending on where you live, it may be legal for you to get a prescription for marijuana. But before you rush to your doctor’s office with your request, remember that all drugs have risks. It is a clinician’s responsibility to evaluate the potential benefit, relative to the potential risk, of each drug option. Marijuana products have fewer risks than opioids. Still, marijuana should be used judiciously and with awareness that it could be harmful.