Whether you call it chronic or persistent pain, the type of pain that makes daily life so uncomfortable can drive a person to try all sorts of therapies. When one therapy doesn’t work, a patient moves on to the next. Enter marijuana. Also known as medical cannabis, it is considered a wonder drug by millions of chronic pain patients who now rely on it for relief.
No, marijuana is not a perfect drug by any measure. In fact, marijuana is just a type of cannabis plant with high levels of THCA. THCA can be converted into the much-coveted THC through heat or one of several processes manufacturers rely on to create medical cannabis products.
Despite not being perfect, pain patients still want marijuana. Millions access it through their state’s medical cannabis programs. I am guessing millions more just buy marijuana through the recreational and black markets.
It Has Its Downsides
Managing chronic pain with medical cannabis has its downsides, according to the operators of the utahmarijuana.org website. At the top of the list are the hoops one needs to jump through to obtain medical cannabis through a state-approved program. Let us use Utah as an example.
Utah issues medical cannabis cards to adult patients diagnosed with qualifying conditions. Pain is one of those conditions. To get a card, a patient must first complete an application and visit with a medical provider. Approved cards are delivered electronically. They need to be renewed every year, which requires a follow-up visit with a medical provider.
Making use of Utah’s medical cannabis program can be inconvenient at times. But there are other downsides, too:
- A lack of retail suppliers.
- Higher prices for medical products.
- Limits on the types of products one can purchase.
There is also the reality that medicating with cannabis is not an exact science. Finding the desired relief is often a matter of trial and error. It can take weeks or months to figure out what works. And in some cases, a chronic pain patient may never find relief regardless of what they try.
Why Patients Want It
It is clear that medicating with state-approved medical cannabis is not all sunshine and roses. Likewise for managing chronic pain with recreational or black-market marijuana. That begs the question of why patients actually want it. If you know the answer, you have an inkling into why marijuana is so popular among the general population.
The fact is that there are downsides to every medical treatment. Even traditional pain treatments are not all they are cracked up to be. The dirty little secret with traditional pain management is that treatments like surgery and prescription painkillers do not always work.
That is actually the biggest reason medical marijuana is so attractive to chronic pain patients. They have tried prescription painkillers and don’t like them. The medications either don’t work or make patients feel terrible. As for surgeries, many chronic pain patients have tried them, too. They end up at the medical marijuana dispensary because all those other treatments have failed.
Patients Also Want Control
One more thing to consider is that chronic pain patients tend to want to maintain control over their treatments. They have been at the mercy of the medical system for so long that medical marijuana looks a lot more attractive – because they can control what they use and how they use it.
Marijuana isn’t perfect as a pain treatment. But chronic pain patients want it anyway. For millions, it is the best option for maintaining some semblance of a normal life in the midst of daily pain.
