New study finds that medical cannabis does not help with chronic pain

Researchers at the University of Bath in the UK have analyzed data from studies testing cannabidiol (CBD) for the treatment of chronic pain. All but one study has shown that CBD is no better than placebo in relieving chronic pain, Gizmodo reports.

You can read the study yourself here.

Peer-reviewed studies are often considered the gold standard of clinical evidence for the use of CBD.

CBD is short for cannabidiol, one of the two main ingredients in cannabis (the other is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is responsible for the drug’s characteristic “high”).

CBD and other cannabinoids have legal medical use in many countries. And soon Ukraine will join the list of such countries. The draft law 7457 was signed by the President of Ukraine on February 13, 2024 and will come into force 6 months after the signing.

There are numerous studies showing that CBT can be used to treat a variety of conditions, including anxiety, schizophrenia, opioid use disorder, and chronic pain. But there are also not so positive studies of CBT. And some of them have a rather weak scientific basis.

CBD for the treatment of chronic pain may be a dangerous mistake, the authors of the study say. A review of existing studies found very little evidence that CBD can be an effective pain reliever.

Also, CBD-containing products tend to contain inaccurate labeling information about the amount of CBD or even other undisclosed ingredients that can be dangerous to users.

The authors also found evidence from other studies and reviews that CBD products are often mislabeled, contain less or, conversely, much more CBD than claimed. They also sometimes contain other ingredients that may be harmful or illegal for users, such as THC.

Some research also suggests that excessive or prolonged use of CBD may even be harmful, as it can increase the risk of liver damage.

It is worth noting that the researchers tested available drugs manufactured for the United States, in which the use of BMPs is not limited to medical purposes. Therefore, the above remarks may apply not only to BMP-containing medicines, but also to any BMP-containing products whose manufacturers may be unscrupulous.

“There is no good reason for thinking that CBD relieves pain, but there are good reasons for doubting the contents of CBD products in terms of CBD content and purity,” state the authors in their article published in the April issue of The Journal of Pain.

It should be borne in mind that the study focuses only on cases of chronic pain. The researchers did not criticize the use of CBD in the treatment of other diseases.