People in Pain Are Willing to Pay More for Cannabis and Harder to Discourage from Using
Greater pain intensity was associated with higher cannabis demand across multiple economic measures — people in pain wanted more cannabis, would pay more for it, and were harder to deter from using.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Greater pain intensity predicted higher Omax (maximum spending), Pmax (maximum price), Intensity (consumption at zero cost), Breakpoint (price that stops use), and lower Elasticity (price sensitivity) for cannabis, with sex-moderated effects for women under responsibility conditions.
Key Numbers
172 regular users (41% women); pain intensity associated with all 5 demand indices; next-day responsibilities reduced demand but less so for women with pain; responsibility effect on elasticity moderated by sex and pain.
How They Did This
Secondary analysis of 172 regular cannabis users completing counterbalanced marijuana purchase tasks (with/without next-day responsibility) alongside Brief Pain Inventory pain intensity assessment.
Why This Research Matters
This provides economic evidence that pain drives cannabis demand beyond just frequency — people in pain are more motivated, willing to spend more, and less responsive to deterrents.
The Bigger Picture
If pain makes cannabis demand more persistent and less price-sensitive, then pain management is fundamentally a cannabis prevention strategy — inadequate pain treatment drives problematic use.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Cross-sectional; crowdsourced sample; hypothetical purchase tasks; self-reported pain; cannot determine if cannabis use worsened or improved pain; no clinical pain diagnoses.
Questions This Raises
- ?Would effective pain treatment reduce cannabis demand?
- ?Could pain-specific cannabis use counseling reduce harm while acknowledging the self-medication reality?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- Evidence Grade:
- Well-designed behavioral economics study with validated measures, but cross-sectional and crowdsourced with hypothetical purchase tasks.
- Study Age:
- Published in 2026, providing economic evidence for the pain-cannabis demand relationship.
- Original Title:
- Clinical pain intensity is associated with greater cannabis demand among people who regularly use cannabis.
- Published In:
- Pain reports, 11(1), e1385 (2026)
- Database ID:
- RTHC-08143
Evidence Hierarchy
A snapshot of a population at one point in time.
What do these levels mean? →Frequently Asked Questions
Does pain make people use more cannabis?
This study found people with greater pain intensity showed higher cannabis demand on every economic measure — they wanted more, would pay more, and were less deterred by high prices or responsibilities.
Are men and women with pain different in cannabis demand?
Yes — women with pain showed an interesting pattern where next-day responsibilities actually made their cannabis demand more persistent (less elastic), potentially reflecting stronger self-medication motivation.
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Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-08143APA
Bush, Nicholas J; Ferguson, Erin; Funez-Ponce, Marco; Yurasek, Ali; Boissoneault, Jeff. (2026). Clinical pain intensity is associated with greater cannabis demand among people who regularly use cannabis.. Pain reports, 11(1), e1385. https://doi.org/10.1097/PR9.0000000000001385
MLA
Bush, Nicholas J, et al. "Clinical pain intensity is associated with greater cannabis demand among people who regularly use cannabis.." Pain reports, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1097/PR9.0000000000001385
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Clinical pain intensity is associated with greater cannabis ..." RTHC-08143. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/bush-2026-clinical-pain-intensity-is
Access the Original Study
Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.