A 21 month observation period of 37 habitual opioid using chronic pain patients who were enrolled in the New Mexico medical cannabis program was performed and they were compared to 29 non-enrolled patients. This 21 month period included 3 months prior to beginning cannabis treatment, and focused on opioid prescription activity in order to measure usage results.
Similar to other study findings, this study found that medical cannabis users had a 17 times higher odds of ceasing opioid prescriptions and a 5 times higher odds of reducing daily opioid prescription doses.
Surveys filled out by these patients also indicated they had improvements in activity levels, concentration, social life, quality of life, and of course in pain reduction.
