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Most physicians who specialize in treating patients with chronic pain favor the legalization of medical cannabis, according to survey data published in the journal JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Network Open.
Researchers at Rutgers University surveyed pain specialists and chronic pain patients regarding their attitudes toward cannabis. Seventy-one percent of patients and 59 percent of physicians supported the “federal legalization of medical cannabis.” Most patients, but not most physicians, favored the federal legalization of marijuana for adults. Doctors who had no experience recommending medical cannabis were least likely to express support for legalization.
Data published by the same journal in 2023 reported that nearly one in three patients with chronic pain use cannabis as an analgesic agent, and many of those who do substitute in place of opioids. A 2017 report by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that “conclusive” evidence exists for cannabis’ efficacy in patients suffering from chronic pain, stating, “Patients who [are] treated with cannabis or cannabinoids are more likely to experience a clinically significant reduction in pain symptoms.”
Full text of the study, “Support for expanding access to cannabis among physicians and adults with chronic pain,” appears in JAMA Network Open.
