Pot Popular for Pain in Fibromyalgia

This report is part of a 12-month Clinical Context series.

By Nancy Walsh, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Published: June 21, 2012

Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

1 comment(s)

Take Posttest

Action Points

• This study found that 13% of patients with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia use cannabinoids, particularly for pain relief, either by smoking the cannabis herb or taking synthetic prescription formulations.
• Note that current unstable mental illness, opioid drug-seeking behavior, and male gender were all associated with smoking marijuana.

Use of cannabinoids for medicinal purposes -- particularly for pain relief -- is popular among patients with fibromyalgia, who either smoke marijuana or take synthetic prescription formulations, a Canadian study found.

Among 457 patients referred to a fibromyalgia clinic, 13% self-reported using cannabinoids, according to Mary-Ann Fitzcharles, MB ChB, from McGill University in Montreal, and colleagues.