Clinical Trial: Cannabis Extracts Significantly Reduce Myofascial Pain
São Paulo, Brazil: The sublingual administration of cannabis extracts containing equal amounts of THC and CBD significantly reduces myofascial pain in patients with Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD), according to data published in the journal Clinics.
Brazilian researchers compared the efficacy of cannabis extracts versus a placebo in 20 patients with chronic myofascial pain. Study participants consumed the placebo for 90 days. They then consumed cannabis extracts daily for 90 additional days. Patients initiated cannabis treatment with a dose of 2 mg/day for the first week, gradually increasing by 2 mg/week until reaching 10 mg/day in the fifth week.
The cannabis intervention yielded a “robust analgesic effect on all evaluated outcomes,” researchers reported. Overall, patients experienced a nearly 4-point reduction in their TMD-related pain (on a zero to 10 numerical scale) during cannabis treatment.
“Cannabinoid therapy was effective in reducing painful symptoms in TMD patients, associated with relevant functional improvements in mandibular opening, protrusion, and laterality compared to placebo,” the study’s authors concluded. “These findings indicate the clinical potential of cannabinoids as a promising therapeutic alternative for managing TMD, highlighting the need for future studies with larger samples and randomized designs to validate and enhance the action mechanisms.”
A pair of placebo-controlled trials from Poland previously reported that the use of topical gels containing CBD can reduce pain and other symptoms in patients with TMD.
Full text of the study, “Effect of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol on myofascial pain modulation in patients with Temporomandibular Disorder: A prospective crossover study,” appears in Clinics.
Study: CBD-Dominant Cannabis Products Provide Significant Anxiety Relief
Boulder, CO: Daily cannabis use – and the use of CBD-dominant cannabis products especially – is associated with decreases in anxiety, according to observational data published in the International Journal of Research and Public Health.
Investigators affiliated with the University of Colorado at Boulder examined daily associations between cannabis use and anxiety across 30 days in 345 adults. Participants used flower or edible products ad libitum. They were randomly assigned to one of three product groups: (1) THC-dominant (flower: 24 percent THC, <1 percent CBD | edible: 10 mg THC, 0 mg CBD), (2) CBD-dominant (flower: <1 percent THC, 24 percent CBD | edible: 0 mg THC, 10 mg CBD), or (3) balanced THC and CBD (12 percent THC, 12 percent CBD | edible: 10 mg THC, 10 mg CBD). Participants independently purchased their assigned product from a local partner dispensary.
Participants in all three groups experienced significant decreases in their anxiety during the study, with those using CBD-dominant edibles showing the most consistent reductions from day 1 to day 30. Prior studies have similarly concluded that the daily use of plant-derived CBD extracts leads to “dramatic reductions” in anxiety among patients with generalized anxiety disorder.
“This study provides within-person, naturalistic findings that cannabis use is associated with short-term reductions in anxiety, with CBD products producing the most consistent benefits,” the study’s authors concluded. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the day-to-day associations between cannabis use and anxiety among individuals who use legal market cannabis to cope with anxiety.”
Full text of the study, “Therapeutically motivated cannabis use for anxiety: Daily and longitudinal reductions vary between flower and edible products,” appears in the International Journal of Research and Public Health.
Massachusetts: Voters Overwhelmingly Oppose Ballot Effort To Repeal Marijuana Legalization
Boston, MA: More than six in ten voters oppose a ballot measure that seeks to repeal the state’s adult-use marijuana legalization laws, according to statewide polling compiled by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
Sixty-three percent of respondents, including strong majorities of Democrats (74 percent) and Independents (69 percent), oppose the ballot question. Just 20 percent of respondents expressed support for the measure.
“There’s no ‘buyer’s remorse’ among the public when it comes to legalizing cannabis,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “That’s because these policies are largely working as intended and because Massachusetts voters prefer legalization and regulation over the failed policy of marijuana prohibition.”
The initiative, entitled ‘An Act to Restore a Sensible Marijuana Policy,’ will appear on the November ballot. It seeks to repeal state laws permitting adults to home-cultivate marijuana and regulating the adult-use retail cannabis market. Those laws were enacted by voters in 2016.
Multiple media sources have reported that the campaign behind the ballot measure is being funded almost entirely by out-of-state dark money. Prohibitionist interests are funding similar repeal efforts in Arizona (for 2026) and Maine (for 2027).
Oklahoma: Governor Reiterates Call To “Shut Down” State’s Voter-Approved Medical Marijuana Access Program
Oklahoma City, OK: Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt is reiterating demands that the state’s voter-approved medical cannabis access program be “shut down.”
In a March 3rd post on X, the Governor wrote: “Oklahoma’s marijuana ‘experiment’ has failed. … It’s time to shut this broken system down.”
The governor made similar remarks in February during his State of the State address. Following those remarks, Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton said that he disagrees with the governor’s stance, adding that he believes the program should be better regulated but not abolished.
In his latest post, the governor claimed that marijuana use by teens has risen following medicalization. However, state data provided by the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavioral Survey shows that youth cannabis use is largely unchanged since 2019 and that it has declined over the past two decades.
Fifty-seven percent of Oklahomans approved a ballot initiative in 2018 legalizing the production and dispensing of cannabis for authorized patients. Approximately 315,000 Oklahomans are registered with the state to access medical cannabis products.
NORML has an action alert directing Gov. Stitt to preserve Oklahoma’s medical marijuana program in the Take Action Center.
