Observational studyPLoS medicine2019
Frequency of cannabis and illicit opioid use among people who use drugs and report chronic pain: A longitudinal analysis.
Observational study in PLoS medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed, 79 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations Between Buprenorphine\Naloxone and Methadone Treatment and non-Opioid Substance Use in Prescription-Type Opioid Use Disorder: Secondary Analyses From the OPTIMA Study: Associations entre le traitement avec la buprénorphine/naloxone et avec la méthadone et l'utilisation de substances non opioïdes dans le trouble lié à l'usage d'opioïdes de type sur ordonnance : analyses secondaires de l'étude OPTIMA.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2024Trial
- Cannabis Use Among Individuals Treated with Medication for Opioid Use Disorder: Correlates, Patterns, and Motivations for Use.Substance use & addiction journal · 2026Article
- Self-reported cannabis use to manage opioid withdrawal symptoms and reductions in opioid use among people who use unregulated opioids: a cross-sectional analysis.Journal of cannabis research · 2026Article
- Medical Cannabis and Opioid Receipt Among Adults With Chronic Pain.JAMA internal medicine · 2026Article
- Decoding Pancreatic Cancer Pain: From Tumor-Nerve Crosstalk to Targeted Analgesic Strategies.International journal of medical sciences · 2026Review
- Prevalence Rates, Perceptions of Risk, and Motivations for Nonmedical Cannabis Use in Pediatric Pain.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Conceptualizing 'cannabis harm reduction': lessons learned from cannabis compassion clubs and medical dispensaries in British Columbia (Canada).Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Cannabis use and illicit opioid cessation among people who use drugs living with chronic pain.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- Prevalence and Correlates of Heavy Alcohol use among People Living with HIV who use Unregulated Drugs in Vancouver, Canada.AIDS and behavior · 2024Article
- Treatments perceived to be helpful for neuropathic pain after traumatic spinal cord injury: A multicenter cross-sectional survey study.The journal of spinal cord medicine · 2024Article
- Prevalence, correlates, and quality-of-life outcomes of major or persistent pain among women living with HIV in Metro Vancouver, Canada.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- The substance use profiles of adults who sought mental health and addiction services through a centralized intake process in Nova Scotia (2020-2021).Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Analyzing and predicting short-term substance use behaviors of persons who use drugs in the great plains of the U.S.PloS one · 2024Article
- Cannabis use to manage opioid cravings among people who use unregulated opioids during a drug toxicity crisis.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- Impact of Recreational Cannabis Legalization on Opioid Prescribing and Opioid-Related Hospital Visits in Colorado: an Observational Study.Journal of general internal medicine · 2023Observational
- "The Box Has Become an Indispensable Part of My Life": A Case Study of Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club and its Consumption Space.Contemporary drug problems · 2023Article
- Why a distinct medical stream is necessary to support patients using cannabis for medical purposes.Journal of cannabis research · 2023Article
- The Cannabis-Dependent Relationship Between Methadone Treatment Dose and Illicit Opioid Use in a Community-Based Cohort of People Who Use Drugs.Cannabis and cannabinoid research · 2023Article
- Editorial: Opioid overdose and harm reduction approaches to combat the looming crisis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- The endocannabinoid system and breathing.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEcological research suggests that increased access to cannabis may facilitate reductions in opioid use and harms, and medical cannabis patients describe the substitution of opioids with cannabis for pain management. However, there is a lack of research using individual-level data to explore this question. We aimed to investigate the longitudinal association between frequency of cannabis use and illicit opioid use among people who use drugs (PWUD) experiencing chronic pain. METHODS AND
findingsThis study included data from people in 2 prospective cohorts of PWUD in Vancouver, Canada, who reported major or persistent pain from June 1, 2014, to December 1, 2017 (n = 1,152). We used descriptive statistics to examine reasons for cannabis use and a multivariable generalized linear mixed-effects model to estimate the relationship between daily (once or more per day) cannabis use and daily illicit opioid use. There were 424 (36.8%) women in the study, and the median age at baseline was 49.3 years (IQR 42.3-54.9). In total, 455 (40%) reported daily illicit opioid use, and 410 (36%) reported daily cannabis use during at least one 6-month follow-up period. The most commonly reported therapeutic reasons for cannabis use were pain (36%), sleep (35%), stress (31%), and nausea (30%). After adjusting for demographic characteristics, substance use, and health-related factors, daily cannabis use was associated with significantly lower odds of daily illicit opioid use (adjusted odds ratio 0.50, 95% CI 0.34-0.74, p < 0.001). Limitations of the study included self-reported measures of substance use and chronic pain, and a lack of data for cannabis preparations, dosages, and modes of administration.
conclusionsWe observed an independent negative association between frequent cannabis use and frequent illicit opioid use among PWUD with chronic pain. These findings provide longitudinal observational evidence that cannabis may serve as an adjunct to or substitute for illicit opioid use among PWUD with chronic pain.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.