Clinical Research Directory

Medical Cannabis as an Opiate Alternative

Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania

Summary

Medical Cannabis is very safe and a viable option for pain relief to improve patients and their family's quality of life. However, medical cannabis is not covered by insurance and is an out of pocket expense. This has been a barrier to some patients trying medical cannabis as an alternative. Recruitment and inclusion/exclusion criteria: Potential participants will be recruited from an outpatient chronic pain clinic. 40 patients who have agreed to attempt wean down on opioid medication and have a diagnosis which qualifies them for medical marijuana will be selected for the study. In these selected patients, cost of the treatment was the main barrier for starting medical cannabis. Each participant will undergo a urine drug screen, a pain assessment using the visual analog scale and pain quality will be assessed using the Short Form-36 health related quality, prior to receiving medical cannabis. Each patient will have an individualized plan for weaning off their opioids which is their standard care plan. The patient will go to the select medical cannabis dispensary. The patient will be followed up monthly for five months by physician and will assess the patient's pain levels and Medical Cannabis doses and opioid doses monthly. The investigators will also note the patient side effects, tolerance and any decrease in symptoms. At five months the physician will recheck a urine drug screen, current pain level and readminister the Short form-36 health related quality. The Medical Cannabis doses and strains will be noted.

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