“Smoking marijuana modestly reduced pain and other symptoms of chronic neuropathic pain, results of a small randomized, placebo-controlled trial showed.

These results are important in light of the fact that patients who hear about pain relief from ongoing publicity about medical marijuana have had only a “trickle” of evidence to prove it, explained Henry J. McQuay, DM, of Oxford University, in an accompanying editorial.

This study does offer hope since few drugs have proven effective in these patients, commented Steven P. Cohen, MD, who as director of pain research at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., sees chronic pain in most of his patients with major war injuries.”

Marijuana smoking appeared well tolerated…

Patients rarely got high on the single hit they took through a pipe three times a day as part of the study, Ware’s group noted.”

Read more: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/PainManagement/21939