5 Years, 241 Patients: What a New Cannabis and Back Pain Study Actually Found

5 Years, 241 Patients: What a New Cannabis and Back Pain Study Actually Found

A five-year clinical analysis of 241 treatment-refractory chronic low back pain patients reported large, durable pain relief and a drop in opioid use from 100% to 4.6%. We review the real numbers, and the honest fine print, from Biomedicines 2026.

July 11, 2026

Chronic low back pain is one of the most stubborn problems in medicine. It is a leading cause of disability worldwide, and for a lot of people the standard playbook of opioids, anti-inflammatories, antidepressants, and physiotherapy simply stops working. So a new five-year study out of Israel is worth a careful, honest look.

Published in the peer-reviewed journal Biomedicines, researchers at Hasharon Hospital, Rabin Medical Center tracked 241 treatment-refractory patients who had all failed at least a year of conventional therapy. Each person served as their own before-and-after comparison. Then they followed what happened once inhaled medical cannabis was added. The headline numbers are striking.

241
patients, all of whom had already failed conventional therapy
5
years of follow-up, one of the longest datasets of its kind

The Pain Numbers

On a 0 to 10 pain scale, the average patient started near the top and dropped to the low end and stayed there. The average reduction across five years was more than five full points.

8.1 → 2.7
Average pain score (NRS), baseline to Year 5. A drop of 5.36 points.
89.2%
of patients achieved at least a 30% reduction in pain
77.2%
achieved at least a 50% reduction in pain

The Opioid Numbers Are The Real Story

At the start, every single patient was on opioids. That was an entry requirement for the study, since these were people the system had run out of options for. By Year 5, almost none of them were.

100% → 4.6%
Opioid use, baseline to Year 5. A 95.4% within-patient reduction.
100% → 7.1%
NSAID (anti-inflammatory) use over the same period
80.5% → 5.4%
antidepressant (SSRI/SNRI) use over the same period

In a world fighting an opioid crisis, watching opioid use fall from 100% to under 5% in a chronic pain cohort is the kind of signal that deserves attention, and scrutiny.

Staying Power And Safety

People do not stick with a treatment that does not work. Retention here was high, and the vast majority of side effects were mild.

92.9%
were still on cannabis therapy at Year 5
2.1%
stopped due to side effects or lack of benefit
99.8%
of recorded adverse events were mild. Most common: dry or red eyes, mild cognitive effects, and digestive upset.

The researchers also found no sign of pharmacological tolerance building over the five years, meaning the effect did not fade and force ever-larger doses in the way people often fear.

Now The Honest Fine Print

Big numbers deserve big skepticism, and to their credit, the study authors are the first to say so. This is where reading the science honestly matters more than cheering for it.

It is not a randomized controlled trial. There was no separate control group taking a placebo. Each patient was compared to their own past, which means improvement could partly reflect regression to the mean, the placebo and expectancy effects of a therapy people actively chose, and general changes in how they reported pain over time. The authors name all of these openly.

The astronomical statistics are a feature of the design, not proof of a miracle. Within-patient comparisons in a large sample produce very small p-values almost automatically. That does not establish cause and effect.

It studied high-potency inhaled cannabis under medical supervision (THC up to 22%, mostly smoked), for a serious medical condition. That is a very different thing from a low-dose wellness product, and it carries its own risks, including those of smoking.

Why We Are Sharing It Anyway

Because this is exactly the conversation OFFFIELD exists to have. Cannabinoids and pain, cannabinoids and the opioid crisis, cannabinoids and the endocannabinoid system. The evidence is growing, it is genuinely promising, and it is still incomplete. All three of those things are true at once.

OFFFIELD is not medical cannabis, and our precision-dosed gummies are not a treatment for back pain or anything else. We make no medical claims. What we make is a case for cannabinoids as something to understand rather than fear, dosed with intention and backed by real science.

Nothing you put in your body is risk-free. Not opioids, not anti-inflammatories, not cannabinoids. The only tool that reliably tips the balance is better information. Studies like this one, read carefully and completely, are how we get it.

Sources and References

  1. Robinson D, Khatib M, Lavon E, et al. "Long-Term Inhaled Cannabis Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Five-Year Retrospective Analysis of Prospectively Collected Patient-Reported Outcomes in 241 Treatment-Refractory Patients." Biomedicines 2026, 14(6):1255. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/14/6/1255
  2. Robinson D, Yassin M, et al. "Comparing Sublingual and Inhaled Cannabis Therapies for Low Back Pain: An Observational Open-Label Study." Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal, 2022. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9622393/
  3. "Opioid-sparing effects of medical cannabis or cannabinoids for chronic pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis." 2021. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8319983/
  4. AHRQ / NCBI. "Living Systematic Review on Cannabis and Other Plant-Based Treatments for Chronic Pain: 2025 Update." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK618040/

Legal disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It reviews independent third-party research and does not describe the effects of OFFFIELD products. OFFFIELD products are hemp-derived, are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, and have not been evaluated by the FDA. Do not start, stop, or change any medication without guidance from a qualified healthcare professional. Must be 21 or older. Products contain THC and may cause a positive drug test.

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