Patient Perceptions of the Use of Medical Marijuana in the Treatment of Pain After Musculoskeletal Trauma: A Survey of Patients at 2 Trauma Centers in Massachusetts

The majority of patients in this study believed that medical marijuana is a valid treatment and that it does have a role in reducing postinjury and postoperative pain. Those patients who used marijuana during their recovery felt that it alleviated symptoms of pain and reduced their opioid intake. Our results help inform clinicians regarding the perceptions of patients with trauma regarding the usefulness of marijuana in treating pain and support further study into the utility of medical marijuana in this population

[Cannabis in Parkinson’s Disease: Hype or help?]

Cannabis buds and extracts as well as synthetic cannabinoids have been available on prescription to patients with severe diseases since March 2017, with the costs covered by health insurance companies.The prescription of medical marihuana is not restricted to specific symptoms and is therefore also valid for patients with Parkinson’s disease. From a legal perspective, patients who are seriously ill even have the right to be treated with cannabis if standard treatment methods are unsuccessful or result in unbearable side effects. This also applies even if only a slight chance of noticeable improvement is predicted as a result of the cannabis treatment.

Second-Hand Exposure of Staff Administering Vaporised Cannabinoid Products to Patients in a Hospital Setting

In many health settings, administration of medicinal cannabis poses significant implementation barriers including drug storage and safety for administering staff and surrounding patients. Different modes of administration also provide different yet potentially significant issues. One route that has become of clinical interest owing to the rapid onset of action and patient control of the inhaled amount (via breath timing and depth) is that of vaporisation of cannabinoid products. Although requiring a registered therapeutic device for administration, this is a relatively safe method of intrapulmonary administration that may be particularly useful for patients with difficulty swallowing, and for those in whom higher concentrations of cannabinoids are needed quickly. Research results are reassuring for hospital and clinical trial practices with staff administering vaporised cannabinoid products, and helpful to ethics committees wishing to quantify risk.

The role of cannabinoids in pain control: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Cannabinoids appear to possess many potential medical uses, which may extend to pain control. A narrative review of the literature has found a variety of studies testing botanical and synthetic cannabinoids in different pain syndromes (acute pain, cancer pain, chronic noncancer pain, fibromyalgia pain, migraine, neuropathic pain, visceral pain, and others). Results from these studies are mixed; cannabinoids appear to be most effective in controlling neuropathic pain, allodynia, medication-rebound headache, and chronic noncancer pain. A great deal more remains to be elucidated about cannabinoids which may emerge to play an important role in the treatment of neuropathic and possibly other painful conditions. There remains a great deal more to learn about the role of cannabinoids in pain management.