Medical Cannabis for Pain: A Two-Edged Sword of Sorts
Medical cannabis and chronic pain. They go hand-in-hand like baseball and hotdogs. I say that because the vast majority of people who use cannabis medicinally do so to manage chronic pain. That is certainly the case in Utah, where Utahmarijuana.org says roughly 80% of all medical cannabis card holders are chronic pain patients.
As I see it, giving the green light to medical cannabis as a pain treatment is a double-edged sword. The thing about chronic pain that makes it so attractive as a medical cannabis candidate can also be leveraged to use cannabis illicitly. The realities of pain management create a conundrum fueled by cannabis as a treatment option.
Evidence Is Mounting
Before going any further, it is important to note that evidence in support of cannabis as a pain reliever is mounting. In a guide to using medical cannabis responsibly, the Utah DHS cites numerous studies to that effect. So I think we are long past the point of arguing marijuana efficacy in the pain relief department.
Exactly how or why it works is unclear. I have read studies showing that both THC and CBD offer real, but limited pain relief. I also ran across a recent study suggesting that cannabis terpenes may do a better job of relieving pain then either cannabinoid. But to me, that is not really the point. The point is why chronic pain patients seek out cannabis to begin with.
Traditional Treatments Don’t Work
A common complaint among chronic pain patients is that traditional treatments do not work. They try things like OTC pain relievers, prescription NSAIDs, physical therapy, and even surgeries. And yet, their pain persists.
Prescription opioids do offer some measure of pain relief, but so many patients report feeling terrible as a result. Many of them would do anything to get off their prescription meds. Enter medical cannabis.
Countless numbers of patients report reducing or completely eliminating prescription opioids as a result of switching to medical cannabis. You can Google it for yourself. For that reason alone, cannabis should be celebrated as a pain management therapy.
The Potential for Abuse
The other edge of the double-edged sword that is medical cannabis lies in the potential for abuse. Not necessarily abuse of the drug itself, although that is possible, but abuse of state medical cannabis card programs. To understand potential abuse, you need to understand one of the biggest problems doctors run into with chronic pain.
Chronic pain is notoriously difficult to treat because it is open to so much variation. Patients experience pain differently. They have different pain thresholds. Many times, pain is non-specific, meaning that doctors cannot find a root cause. The final nail in the coffin is that doctors are not taught how to manage chronic pain in medical school.
This all adds up to the potential risk of patients claiming to suffer from chronic pain just to get a state-issued card. In a state like California, where both recreational and medical cannabis are allowed, there is no issue. But recreational marijuana is still illegal in Utah. So are there patients who have obtained their cards under false pretenses just so they can use marijuana recreationally?
No Easy Answers
I do not know the answer to that question. But I am smart enough to know that anything is possible. Medical cannabis does show promise as an effective pain reliever. At the same time, state regulators and law enforcement need to be vigilant against potential medical cannabis program abuse. Medical cannabis is a double-edged sword in that regard. But there is no turning back now.
