Pro-pot advocates routinely claim that marijuana is good for treating pain. Like so many other myths, this is not supported by scientific evidence. And a new study finds that marijuana might actually increase the pain people experience after surgery, as well as their consumption of opioids to cope with it. The study of some 35,000 patients undergoing elective surgery showed that those who used pot within 30 days after surgery experienced 14 percent more pain n the first 24 hours and consumed 7 percent more opioids. While some studies have shown that marijuana can help treat neuropathic pain—a type of chronic pain caused by damaged nerves—more research is needed to know whether it’s more effective than other options. Meanwhile, the International Association for the Study of Pain has said that there wasn’t enough high-quality research to endorse cannabis use for pain. This hasn’t stopped the cannabis industry from continually touting the drug’s purported pain-relieving properties, ever since California’s 1996 decision to legalize medical marijuana. Around 10 percent of consumers turn to pot products to ease pains—the fourth most-cited reason after relaxing, relieving stress, and improving sleep. Pain research is inherently difficult because of the subjectivity of pain, and medical experts caution that such claims are mostly anecdotal and highly individual, and influenced by marijuana marketing.
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