Medical Cannabis Users: Has Pot Improved Your Quality of Life?

Medical cannabis users are a diverse group. They consume for different reasons. They use different products, prefer different delivery methods, and determine their own dosage based on need. With so much variation, it is worth asking the question of whether medical cannabis actually improves their quality of life.

Australian researchers recently released the results of a study intended to determine just that. They enrolled some 3,000 patients suffering from chronic pain, cancer pain, insomnia, and anxiety. The vast majority of participants were chronic pain patients.

It turns out that many of the patients reported improvement in eight different areas. Overall, they reported a better quality of life as a result of being treated with medical cannabis. If nothing else, the data seems to suggest that medical cannabis is doing something good for patients.

Chronic Pain Offers the Explanation

It is not hard to grasp the results of the Australian study if you know anything about chronic pain. In getting to that, it’s important to note that chronic pain is the main condition for which medical cannabi is recommended in the U.S.

Chronic pain is pain that is experienced daily, or almost daily, for a minimum of three months. It can be either a symptom or a qualifying condition itself, according to the experts at Utahmarijuana.org. Listing chronic pain as the qualifying condition on a medical cannabis card application virtually guarantees approval.

The thing about chronic pain is that it impacts nearly every area of life. People who have never experienced it may have trouble grasping just how debilitating chronic pain can be. Living with it day after day, week after week takes a toll on a person’s mind and body.

You Just Want Relief

If you are a chronic pain patient, you know exactly what is going on here. You just want relief. You want it so badly that there are days you are literally willing to do anything to get it. But being so desperate for pain relief impacts your quality of life. How can it not?

What so many people fail to understand is that chronic pain creates additional problems. It leads to stress and anxiety. Chronic pain can contribute to depression. It can certainly cause people to abandon the lifestyle they knew before pain was a problem. All these things impact quality of life.

When Cannabis Offers Relief

Chronic pain patients willing to try anything to feel better generally have no qualms about using medical cannabis. And when cannabis offers real relief, quality of life starts to return. That is exactly the point. Furthermore, the Australian research clearly demonstrates a link between medical cannabis consumption and improved quality of life.

Anything that can bring pain relief is good from the chronic pain patient’s perspective. Pain relief means less stress and anxiety. It means being able to get up and start moving again. For many patients, the relief brought on by medical cannabis actually allows them to resume the lives they once knew before pain.

No Different Than Other Medications

Medical cannabis is no different than other medications in its ability to improve quality of life. Some chronic pain patients might enjoy a better quality of life using narcotic painkillers. Others may see improvement by being more active, controlling their diets, and participating in physical therapy. Does it really matter in the end?

If pain relief is the goal of a patient’s medical treatments, whatever works is good. And for a lot of people, what works is medical cannabis. At the end of the day, cannabis brings relief and improves quality of life.

Marsha Martin