Medical cannabis contains two to three times the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive agent in the drug, needed for effective chronic pain treatment, according to a study in PLoS One (2020;15[3]:e0230167).
The researchers report that 90% of legal cannabis, regardless of program type, contained THC in excess of 15%. “This is relevant because cannabis has demonstrated efficacy in neuropathic pain with low THC concentrations (less than 5% to 10%),” the study noted,