Bryan Magana, Brooke Ashmore, & Dr. Thomas Clobes
Chronic pain is a leading cause for Americans to seek medical care. Cannabis has become an alternative to opioids for many of those who suffer from chronic pain (CP). Patients are often prescribed opioid medications for pain relief, which commonly leads to addiction. Cannabis is a potential alternative for patients, but little data is available on the willingness of patients with chronic pain who are using opioids to use cannabis as an alternative. Surveys were emailed to patients of pain management physicians throughout the United States to determine their willingness to use cannabis rather than opioids. The survey also asked respondents about their concerns regarding cannabinoid therapy, assumptions on the costs of cannabis, the expected level of pain relief, and other relevant factors. Full responses were received from 542 participants, 221 were males and 321 were female. 86.7% of people answered affirmatively when posed the question if they would consider medical cannabis for pain management. 35.4% of the respondents expected to receive 51% or greater pain relief from medical cannabis. The majority of patients, 71.9%, reported they would be “somewhat likely” or “very likely” to use less opioids if recommended medical cannabis by their physician. Those who said no to medical cannabis were more likely to be concerned about overdose (p=.04), disapproval from others (p=.03), and, concern that family members will use their products (p=.006). While the majority of patients with chronic pain were willing to use medical cannabis, including to reduce their opioid use, there are concerns these patients have that need to be addressed by their medical teams.