Emily Lindley, PhD.
Assistant Professor of Orthopedics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Back and neck (spine) pain are common and disabling conditions that affect 70% to 85% of people at some point in their life. Patients with spine pain are often prescribed opioids, which are only moderately effective for managing chronic pain and are associated with the risk of overdose and misuse/abuse. However, there are few, if any, non-opioid pain medications that are more effective for managing chronic spine pain. Thus, patients and healthcare providers are seeking safe, effective alternatives to opioids for treating chronic spine pain. One such proposed alternative is medical cannabis. Although limited, clinical studies have indicated that cannabinoids may be effective for reducing chronic pain. However, there have been no high-quality clinical trials of cannabis for the treatment of chronic spine pain.
The goal of this research study is to investigate the efficacy of extended use of oral cannabis as a non-opioid treatment to reduce chronic spine pain. We will conduct objective scientific research in the form of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial (RCT) to determine whether daily treatment with two different doses of oral cannabis extract for 6 weeks significantly reduces spine pain as compared to placebo. We hypothesize that cannabis treatment will result in significantly greater reductions in chronic spine pain as compared to placebo treatment. The resulting data from this project will be instrumental in guiding clinical care of Colorado patients and others around the world and may substantiate a new approach to reducing the human toll of the current opioid epidemic.