Study: Pain Patients Report Cannabis Augments Efficacy Of Opiate-Based Medications

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Cannabis is often administered as an analgesic agent by chronic pain patients, many of whom report that it augments the pain-relieving properties of opiods, according to data published online ahead of print in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

An international team of investigators from Australia and England assessed the use of cannabis among a cohort of 1514 Australians who had been prescribed pharmaceutical opioids for chronic non-cancer pain.

Researchers reported that one in six (16 percent) of the patients…