People with chronic lower back pain who don’t respond to traditional therapies such as opioids experience “large, sustained, and statistically robust improvements” when they switch to inhaled cannabis, according to a new study.
Researchers at Rabin Medical Center in Israel looked at longitudinal data from 241 patients with treatment-resistant lower back pain from 2020 to 2025.
Not only did cannabis “markedly and durably” improve pain symptoms, but that was accompanied by “near-total displacement of opioids, NSAIDs, antidepressants and gabapentinoids,” the study, published in the journal Biomedicines, said.
The authors said they chose to research the efficacy of inhaled or vaporized marijuana “because of its rapid onset, on-demand titratability, and patient preference.”
The THC content in the cannabis used in the study ranged from 4-22 percent, while CBD concentration ranged from 2-22 percent.
“Inhaled cannabis was associated with large, sustained, and statistically robust improvements in pain, disability, and pain interference, accompanied by near-total displacement of opioids, NSAIDs, antidepressants, and gabapentinoids.”
“The within-patient benefit-risk profile…supports consideration of cannabis as a potentially clinically meaningful, opioid-sparing option in patients who have failed multimodal conventional therapy, pending confirmation in randomized comparative trials,” the study concluded.
Researchers stressed that, while promising, the study should be followed
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