The Use of Cannabinoids in the Management of Chronic Pain: A Perceptual Survey among Practitioners

Authors

  • Mohamed Berra Department of Emergency Medicine, Benguerir Hospital, Benguerir 43150, Morocco
  • Amine Fikry Burn center Ibn Rochd University Hospital, 1 rue des hopitaux, Casablanca 20000, Morocco
  • Sara Esseddiki Department of Pediatrics Ibn Rochd University Hospital, 1 rue des hopitaux, Casablanca 20000, Morocco

Keywords:

legislation, medical cannabis, pain management, religion, risk of addiction, sources of information

Abstract

The management of chronic pain represents a challenge due to limitations and side effects associated with conventional treatments. Thus, the introduction of medical cannabis represents a new effective strategy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the acceptability of medical cannabis among practitioners and evaluate its limitations and obstacles to its use in medicine. We collected the data through a questionnaire that targeted doctors (neurologists and oncologists) in major university hospitals and private practices. The results of our study showed that the most important limitations to the use of conventional treatment are end-of-dose failure and resistance to treatment. We also found that the lack of clinical studies, the risk of addiction and mental illness represent the principal limitations to the use of medical cannabis. In addition, our study confirmed that the major obstacles to the introduction of cannabinoids in the pharmaceutical market are related to legislation, religion, and social stigmatization. Despite these limitations and barriers, most Moroccan doctors are favorable to its prescription without fear of legal persecution. Our study, the firstone of its kind in North Africa, provides essential data regarding the acceptability of its medical use and represents a starting point for more in-depth research.

References

. Douleur en oncologie. Philippe Poulain. Dialogue Ville-Hôpital, 01/2005

. Opioids in chronic non-cancer pain: systematic review of efficacy and safety. Eija Kalso, Jayne E Edwards, Andrew R.Moore, Henry J McQuay. 2004 Dec;112(3):372-380. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2004.09.019. [PubMed]

. The novel role of the mu receptor in lung cancer progression: a laboratory investigation. Mathew B, Lennon F, Siegler J, Mirzapoiazova T, Mambetsariev N, Sammani S, et al. Anesth Analg. 2011 Mar;112(3):558-67. [PubMed]

. The effectiveness and risks of long-term opioid therapy for chronic pain: a systematic review for a National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop. Roger Chou, Judith A Turner, Emily B Devine et al. Annals of internal medicine. 2015 Feb 17;162(4):276-86. [PubMed]

. https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates.

. Ballantyne JC. Opioid therapy: Is it appropriate in patients with noncancer pain? An evidence.based look at the issue? ASA Refresher Course. 2006;34:31–42. [PubMed]

. Opioids for chronic noncancer pain: A position paper of the American Academy of Neurology Gary M. Franklin Neurology 2014;83;1277-1284. [PubMed]

. Risk factors for drug dependence among out-patients on opioid therapy in a large US health-care system. Boscarino JA, Rukstalis M, Hoffman SN, et al. Addiction 2010;105:1776–82. [PubMed]

. Medicinal Cannabis: A Survey Among Health Care Providers in Washington State. Beatriz H Carlini, Sharon B. Garrett, Gregory T Carter.Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2017 Feb;34(1):85-91. [PubMed]

. Irish general practitioner attitudes toward decriminalisation and medical use of cannabis: results from a national survey. Des Crowley, Claire Collins, Ide Delargy, Eamon Laird and, Marie Claire Van Hout. Harm Reduction Journal (2017) 14:4

. Effect of medical cannabis on thermal quantitative measurements of pain in patients with Parkinson’s disease. A Shohet, A Khlebtovsky, N Roizen, Y Roditi, R Djaldetti. Eur J pain. 2017 Mar;21(3):486-493. [PubMed]

. Amyloid proteotoxicity initiates an inflammatory response blocked by cannabinoids. Antonio Currais, Oswald Quehenberger, Aaron M Armando, Daniel Daugherty, Pam Maher & David Schubert.Aging and Mechanisms of Disease. 2(1):16012. DOI:10.1038/npjamd.2016.1216012 (2016)

. Patterns of use of medical cannabis among Israeli cancer patients: a single institution experience. Barliz Waissengrin, Damien Urban, Yasmin Leshem, Meital Garty, Ido Wolf. Journal of pain and symptom management. 2015 Feb;49(2):223-30.

. Evaluating Sativex® in neuropathic pain management: a clinical and neurophysiological assessment in multiple sclerosis. Margherita Russo et al. Pain Medicine. 2016 Jun;17(6):1145-54. [PubMed]

. Joint effects: a pilot investigation of the impact of bipolar disorder and marijuana use on cognitive function and mood. Kelly A Sagar et al. PLoS One. 2016 Jun 8;11(6):e0157060. [PubMed]

. Cannabidiol as a new treatment for drug‐resistant epilepsy in tuberous sclerosis complex. Epilepsia. 2016 Oct;57(10):1617-1624. [PubMed]

. High‐intensity cannabis use associated with lower plasma human immunodeficiency virus‐1 RNA viral load among recently infected people who use injection drugs. M-J Milloy et al. Drug and alcohol review. 2015 Mar;34(2):135-40. [PubMed].

. Colorado family physicians' attitudes toward medical marijuana. Elin Kondrad et al. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. Jan-Feb 2013;26(1):52-60. [PubMed]

. Modulation of the endocannabinoid system: vulnerability factor and new treatment target for stimulant addiction. Stephanie Olière et al. Front psychiatry. 2013;4:109. [PubMed]

. Impact of cannabis use during stabilization on methadone maintenance treatment. Jillian L Scavone et al. Am J Addict. Jul-Aug 2013;22(4):344-51. [PubMed]

. The association between cannabis abuse and subsequent schizophrenia: a Swedish national co- relative control study. G N Giordano et al. Psychological medicine. 2015 Jan;45(2):407-14. [PubMed]

. http://library.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?flag=1&bk_no=13&ID=28 Hashiat ad desouki, segment 33, partie 1.

. Cannabis as Therapy for People Living with HIV/AIDS:" Our Right, Our Choice". Lynne Belle-Isle et al. Canadian AIDS Society, 2006. [PubMed]

. https://www.who.int/news/item/19-12-2019-who-launches-new-report-on-global-tobacco-use-trends

. https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics.

. http://www.yabiladi.com/article-societe-1316.html.

. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Causes_of_Death#sthash.0P7cmN1N.dpbs.

. http://sante.lefigaro.fr/mieux-etre/tabac-alcool-drogues/cannabis/quels-risques.

. Medicinal use of marijuana—polling results. Adler, J.N. and Colbert, J.A. New England Journal of Medicine. 2013; 368:866-868. [Google Scholar]

Downloads

Published

2021-09-14

How to Cite

Berra, M. ., Fikry , A. ., & Esseddiki , S. . (2021). The Use of Cannabinoids in the Management of Chronic Pain: A Perceptual Survey among Practitioners. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR), 60(2), 175–183. Retrieved from https://gssrr.org/index.php/JournalOfBasicAndApplied/article/view/12975

Issue

Section

Articles