Marijuana pain relief and marijuana pain management are typically considered to be a primary use for a medical marijuana recommendation or card holders. Patients report significant improvements in the amount and intensity of pain from ongoing illness.

Marijuana can be a promising treatment for some specific, pain-related medical conditions, according to California researchers who have even presented their findings to the California Legislature and also released them to the public.

“I think the evidence is getting better and better that marijuana, or the constituents of cannabis, are useful at least in the adjunctive treatment of neuropathy,” Igor Grant, MD, executive vice-chairman of the department of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, tells WebMD.

“We don’t know if it’s a front-line treatment yet. I’m hoping the results of our studies will prompt larger-scale studies that involve a much more varied population. “This [report given to the Legislature] sets the stage of larger-scale studies,” he says.

Although some experts refuse to believe it, a growing list of studies have indicated a reduction in severity and discomfort resulting from the use of medical marijuana for pain relief and management.

Five studies, published in peer-reviewed medical journals, show the value of marijuana for pain-related conditions, the researchers say in the report.