Welcome to the Cannabis for Pain Seminar

Welcome to the master page for the Cannabis for Pain Seminar at Higher Learning LV. This seminar provides students with a deep dive into the topic of the potential efficacy of cannabis and its constituent chemical compounds (primarily cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids) for one of the most common modern medical conditions, pain.

Cannabis for Pain includes a dozen homework assignments that are crafted from exclusive study summaries based on only the most recent peer-reviewed research studies as published in reputable medical and scientific journals.

For students wanting a more detailed examination of the potential medicinal efficacy of cannabis or those seeking certification, Higher Learning LV's Core Cannabis course is comprised of 34 homework assignments and is the prerequisite for our forthcoming Cannabis Foundation course that qualifies students for our Cannabis Foundation Certificate Exam.

The following 12 homework assignments total more than 14,000 words, the equivalent of about a 30-page book. The speed at which different students complete homework assignments is extremely variable, so we do not feature time estimates for our seminars.

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This Overview homework assignment provides students with the summaries of three important 2023 studies regarding the potential efficacy of cannabis for pain.

Cannabis for Chronic Pain & Anxiety

A 2023 study entitled "Comparing the Effects of Medical Cannabis for Chronic Pain Patients With and Without Co-morbid Anxiety: A Cohort Study" that was published in the journal Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics had the goal of comparing "the outcomes of chronic pain patients with and without co-morbid anxiety" following treatment with cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs).

CBD for Chronic Pain

A 2023 study entitled "Analyzing the Perspectives of Health Professionals and Legal Cannabis Users on the Treatment of Chronic Pain with Cannabidiol: Protocol for a Scoping Review" that was conducted in New Zealand and published in the journal JMIR Research Protocols provided an overview of the potential role played by cannabidiol, or CBD, as an "alternative treatment for chronic pain among health professionals and legal cannabis users."

Cannabis for Chronic Non-cancer Pain

A 2023 study entitled "Medicinal Cannabis for Patients with Chronic Non-cancer Pain: Analysis of Safety and Concomitant Medications" that was published in the International Journal of Pharmacy Practice explored "the incidence of adverse events (AEs) reported by patients when initiating medicinal cannabis treatment for chronic pain and the association of cannabis constituents, dose, and concomitant medicines with AE incidence."

A 2023 study entitled "Changes in Prescribed Opioid Dosages Among Patients Receiving Medical Cannabis for Chronic Pain, New York State, 2017-2019" that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) posed the query: "Is receiving medical cannabis for a longer duration associated with reducing prescription opioid dosages among patients receiving long-term opioid therapy?"

A 2023 study entitled "Recreational Cannabis and Opioid Distribution" that was published in the journal Health Economics examined the impact of cannabis legalization on "prescription opioid dispensing" by analyzing data from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

A January 2023 study entitled "Use of Cannabis and Other Pain Treatments Among Adults with Chronic Pain in U.S. States with Medical Cannabis Programs" that was published in the journal JAMA noted the lack of availability of "accurate estimates of cannabis use or its substitution in place of pain treatments among adults with chronic noncancer pain."

A 2023 study entitled "Medical Cannabis for Pain Management in Patients Undergoing Chronic Hemodialysis: Randomized, Double-blind, Cross-over Feasibility Study" that was published in the Clinical Kidney Journal explored the safety of sublingual oil-based medical cannabis "for pain management in patients undergoing hemodialysis."

A 2022 research study entitled "Cannabidiol as a Treatment for Arthritis and Joint Pain: An Exploratory Cross-sectional Study" that was published in the Journal of Cannabis Research explored the efficacy of the hemp-derived cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) for arthritis.

A 2023 study entitled "Medical Cannabis and Stigma: A Qualitative Study with Patients Living with Chronic Pain" that was published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing explored the ways in which "stigma is experienced and what strategies are used to manage stigma among patients using medical cannabis to ease suffering from chronic pain."

A 2022 research study entitled "Medical Cannabis for Gynecologic Pain Conditions: A Systematic Review" that was published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology explored the potential role played by cannabis in reducing pain in gynecological conditions.

A 2022 study entitled "The Role of Cannabis in Treatment-resistant Fibromyalgia Women" that was conducted in Israel and published in the journal Pain Practice utilized the World Health Organization Quality-of-Life Bref Questionnaire to investigate the impact of the initiation of cannabis treatment on the quality-of-life of women with treatment-resistant fibromyalgia.

A 2023 study entitled "Combined Non-psychoactive Cannabis Components Cannabidiol and β-caryophyllene Reduce Chronic Pain via CB1 Interaction in a Rat Spinal Cord Injury Model" that was published in the journal PLOS ONE had the goal of assessing the potential of cannabis cannabinoids to reduce neuropathic pain resulting from spinal cord injury (SCI).

A January 2020 research study entitled "Medical Cannabis & Insomnia in Older Adults with Chronic Pain: A Cross-sectional Study" that was published in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care explored the potential ability of cannabis to assist chronic pain patients who suffer insomnia.

Homework 1.12 provides an assignment-by-assignment research review to help reinforce key learning points for students.