"This is why findings from a pair of major clinical trials in Europe that evaluated cannabis for low back pain the leading cause of disability worldwide have caught the attention of Price and others who are investigating the plant's potential in pain management. The first, published in the journal Nature Medicine, showed that a blend of cannabis oil, containing the psychoactive compound THC, as well as CBD and other natural compounds in the plant, outperformed a placebo."
"Here, patients were much less likely to have gastrointestinal side effects like constipation, and cannabis offered better relief over 6 months than their painkillers. Price believes the new studies are "groundbreaking" and will be a "cornerstone" of the growing evidence base on cannabis and chronic pain. Because cannabis remains a Schedule 1 drug a category reserved for substances with no accepted medical use and is heavily regulated, this type of large-scale clinical trial is tough to pull off in the U.S."
Patients commonly ask whether cannabis can relieve back pain because many report improved sleep and reduced pain intensity. Two large European clinical trials evaluated a full-spectrum cannabis oil for low back pain. One trial showed the cannabis oil outperformed placebo; the other compared the same tincture to opioids and found fewer gastrointestinal side effects and better pain relief over six months. The trials were funded by a German company developing VER-01, which expects European marketing approval soon. U.S. research faces regulatory barriers because cannabis is Schedule I, and the FDA requires replication of the trials in the United States.
Read at www.npr.org
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