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Marijuana May Prolong Pain Rather Than Relieve It

New research suggests that marijuana can actually amplify and prolong pain, rather than relieve it. A study published in the journal Science questions marijuana’s painkilling properties, suggesting that prescribing the drug for pain relief may be counterproductive.

Experiments with rodents and humans found that a group of compounds that includes cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, can interfere with the body's mechanisms to stop pain signals from reaching the brain.

"If you had a toothache, you probably wouldn't want to treat it with marijuana, because you could actually make it worse," said University of Texas professor Volker Neugebauer, one of the study's authors.

"Now, for more pathological conditions like neuropathic pain, where the problem is a dysfunction within the nerves themselves and a subsequent disturbance throughout the nervous system that's not confined to the pain system, marijuana may be beneficial."

Researchers from the United States, Switzerland, Hungary, Japan, Germany, France, and Venezuela collaborated on the new research. They found that endocannabinoids in the spinal cord suppress the body's ability to put "the brakes" on pain signals, leaving pain with a straight road to the brain.

"In the spinal cord there's a balance of systems that control what information, including information about pain, is transmitted to the brain," Neugebauer said.
 

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