What do we know about cannabis treatment for chronic pain associated with rheumatologic conditions? Flapas / shutterstock.com
SAN DIEGO—What does cannabis offer to the treatment and management of rheumatology patients and the range of pain states they experience? What do we really know about its long-term effects? These are hard questions to answer with currently available data and a reality nuanced by complications cannabis advocates don’t always recognize, according to two experts presenting at the ACR/ARHP 2017 Annual Meeting Nov. 3–8.
Cannabis refers to all the various products and chemicals, including marijuana, derived from the cannabis plant. “We’ve had debates about cannabis, pro and con,” said Rosalie Pacula, PhD, of the Rand Drug Policy Research Center in Santa Monica, Calif. Debating the pros and cons of whether cannabis could be used therapeutically is no longer as relevant, she said, because marijuana has been legalized in states representing 20% of the U.S. population and is allowed for medical use in many others. The picture at the state level is further complicated by the fact that marijuana remains illegal under federal law. “We should now talk instead about what cannabis does and how it affects society,” she said.
States have been experimenting with cannabis policy since the 1970s, starting with decriminalization policies and then medical marijuana.1 But state policies on marijuana remain a hodge-podge that continues to evolve. Researchers must understand the impact of state policies on use. Too often, research findings neglect the heterogeneity of state policies, policy evolution and the timing of changes, Dr. Pacula said. Academic researchers have only just begun to see the implications of these nuances.
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Rick says
January 19, 2019 at 1:32 amIn my opinion, Cannabis is an important part of the treatment regimen for rheumatoid arthritis. I take 8ml methotrexate weekly, and the side effects of methotrexate are horrible. I used to dread methotrexate day. Cannabis, combined with 1mg daily folic acid, completely alleviates these side effects.
Understand that, it lifts the methotrexate fog. Methotrexate creates a feeling of malaise, with difficulty thinking. Within minutes of inhaling Cannabis this dissipates…unless you’ve personally experienced this, you just can’t comprehend how wonderful it is to be free of the methotrexate side effects…
In addition, the Cannabis is a potent anti inflammatory and very effective pain reliever.
It’s time to drop the bias against this potent medicine. What are the main arguments against it? That users control the dosing? And, that the plant has a complex chemical profile that makes it hard to determine just what exactly is occurring??
That’s what research is for.
Up until recently the extreme prejudice against the plant has made research unavailable.
Also, as far as dosing and medication are concerned, understand this… the patient always ultimately decides the dosing of any medication, the prescribed dosing is always written on the label, but the administered amount is always determined by its user.
I never increase dosages, with a toxic asskicker like methotrexate why would anyone want to take more of that? Without the Cannabis to counteract the methotrexate side effects I’m inclined to take less methotrexate, less often, than prescribed.
What happens then??
The DMARD fails to halt disease progression.