N/A
N=29
Medical Cannabis as an Opiate Alternative
Chronic Pain · Opioid Use
Bottom Line
View on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT07194928 ↗Enrolled (actual)
29
Serious AEs
0.0%
Results posted
May 2026
Primary outcome: Primary: Change in Mean Numeric Rating Scale at 5 Months From Baseline — -1.5 Units on a 0-10 scale
Study Design & Population
- Study type
- Observational
- Phase
- N/A
- Interventions
- We will monitor patient's response to medical marijuana as alternative to opioid for chronic pain. (Other)
- Age
- Adult, Older Adult · 18+ yrs
- Sex
- All
- Sponsor
- University of Pennsylvania
- Primary completion
- Oct 2025
Outcome Measures
| Outcome | Result | p-value |
|---|---|---|
| PRIMARY Change in Mean Numeric Rating Scale at 5 Months From Baseline |
-1.5 | — |
| PRIMARY Change From Baseline to 5 Months in Daily Opioid Use (Morphine Milligram Equivalents) |
-30.6 | — |
Summary
Medical Cannabis is very safe and a viable option for pain relief to improve patients and their family's quality of life. However, medical cannabis is not covered by insurance and is an out of pocket expense. This has been a barrier to some patients trying medical cannabis as an alternative.
Recruitment and inclusion/exclusion criteria: Potential participants will be recruited from an outpatient chronic pain clinic. 40 patients who have agreed to attempt wean down on opioid medication and have a diagnosis which qualifies them for medical marijuana will be selected for the study. In these selected patients, cost of the treatment was the main barrier for starting medical cannabis. Each participant will undergo a urine drug screen, a pain assessment using the visual analog scale and pain quality will be assessed using the Short Form-36 health related quality, prior to receiving medical cannabis. Each patient will have an individualized plan for weaning off their opioids which is their standard care plan. The patient will go to the select medical cannabis dispensary. The patient will be followed up monthly for five months by physician and will assess the patient's pain levels and Medical Cannabis doses and opioid doses monthly. The investigators will also note the patient side effects, tolerance and any decrease in symptoms. At five months the physician will recheck a urine drug screen, current pain level and readminister the Short form-36 health related quality. The Medical Cannabis doses and strains will be noted.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- Patient who are on chronic opioids medication for pain and have failed to wean off in past.
- These patients also have diagnoses that makes them eligible for medical marijuana and are willing to try it as an alternative to opioids and cost prohibited from trialing in the past
Exclusion Criteria
- History of Schizophrenia
- Acute psychiatric disorder
- Licensed to carry firearm
- Federal job that excludes them from receiving medical marijuana.
Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07194928). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication.