Simone Jackson
University of Florida
Co-Authors: Sophie Maloney, Juan Perez, Abigail Gracy, Anne Gracy, Elena Kalina, Emmely Pavila
University of Florida
Background: Florida has one of the largest medical cannabis (MC) programs in the United States, with over 870,000 current qualified users in 2023. Pain is not specifically listed as an approved qualifying medical condition for receiving a MC card in Florida, however, 30% of certified users nationally report pain as a reason for medical cannabis use. Despite an increase in medical cannabis use for pain-related outcomes, little is known about the degree of pain relief among those having used cannabis for long periods. To address this research gap, we explored the relationship between previous cannabis experience and self-reported pain among current MC users.
Objective: Describe sociodemographic characteristics and self-reported pain among MC users with varying cannabis use experience. Identify potential associations between previous cannabis experience and both self-reported pain and sociodemographic characteristics.
Methods: A secondary data analysis was conducted using data collected from the cross-sectional arm of the Medical Marijuana & Me (M3) study. Using a bivariate analysis, we compared sociodemographic characteristics and self-reported pain intensity (Brief Pain Index; BPI) between categories of cannabis experience (5 years of use). We performed a multinomial logistic regression to address potential confounders.
Results: In total, 629 MC users (median age 45 (IQR 35-58), 86% White, 63% female, 83% attended college, 58% employed) completed the survey. Most respondents had more than 5 years of previous cannabis experience (54%), followed by 1-5 years (34%), and less than 1 year (12%). Age, sex at birth, education, and employment status were not statistically different across the groups. MC users who identified as White were more likely to report 5 years (86%) of experience (p=0.046). Respondents across all categories of previous cannabis experience reported similar worst pain intensity BPI scores within the past 24 hours (mean 7.7, SD=1.7). A multinominal logistic regression model showed no associations of sociodemographic characteristics and self-reported pain with previous cannabis use experience.
Conclusions: We found that most respondents had more than 5 years of previous cannabis experience, but there was no statistically significant relationship between experience and self-reported pain. Future research should longitudinally assess pain to explore how specific use patterns impact pain among medical cannabis users.