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The United States is struggling with how to deal with two competing problems: the undertreatment of pain and the abuse of opioids. At the same time, millions of people in third-world countries are dying without access to any opioids, even liquid morphine, due in large part to a variety of barriers...
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In an online edition of the British Journal of Anaesthesia, the Perioperative Pain and Addiction Interdisciplinary Network—or PAIN—outlined recommendations for patients who use cannabis. The regulation and use of marijuana products is constantly evolving. Cannabis use can alter perioperative...
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Are baby boomers self-medicating with marijuana, whether medical or recreational? Pain is common in the aging population. Elderly patients, trying to avoid prescription medications, may try marijuana.
What to consider:
- Many of these patients have never used cannabis
- Clinical evidence of pain...
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A study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society of 568 people surveyed found that 15% used cannabis within the past 3 years, over 50% of those surveyed used it regularly (daily or weekly), and 78% used it for self-medicating. Patients reported most commonly smoking, taking tinctures, or...
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The American Heart Association has issued a scientific statement calling for education for clinicians on the health implications of cannabis products. They are calling for funding and clinical trials, both of which are predicated on the removal of legal hurdles. The AHA states, “Our understanding of...
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In a recent issue of the journal of Substance Use & Misuse, a study of sickle cell disease patients was discussed. It is well known that, in the sickle cell disease population, chronic pain rates are high. Perhaps less well known are the levels of mental health issues. Even less known? Levels of...
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Marijuana and hemp are genetically distinct cousins of the genus Cannabis sativa L., yet they have been erroneously associated with each other for the past 80 years.
That all changed in December 2018 when Congress removed hemp from the federal Controlled Substances Act and legalized the plant and...
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From the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Abstract
Objective: Given changes in U.S. marijuana laws, attitudes, and use patterns, individuals with pain may be an emerging group at risk for nonmedical cannabis use and cannabis use disorder. The authors examined differences in the prevalence of...
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Newswise — Cannabis appears to be a safe and potentially effective treatment for the chronic pain that afflicts people with sickle cell disease, according to a new clinical trial co-led by University of California, Irvine researcher Kalpna Gupta and Dr. Donald Abrams of UC San Francisco. The...
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Newswise — Medical cannabis is finally being put under the microscope, in a first-of-its-kind real world evidence study led by Dr. Hance Clarke, Director of Pain Services, Toronto General Hospital, and a recognized leader in educating Canadians about chronic pain management and the risk factors of...