Authors
Patric Bialas, Jonas Tesarz, Elmar Brähler, Winfried Häuser
Published in
Schmerz (Berlin, Germany). Oct 27, 2026. Epub Oct 27, 2026.
Abstract
There are currently no recent data available on the prevalence of high-impact chronic pain, the use of centrally acting analgesics, and the sources of supply for cannabis-based medicines among the general German population.
Individuals aged ≥ 16 years from the German population were surveyed in a cross-sectional study in spring 2025. Pain grades were assessed using the German version of the Graded Chronic Pain Scale Revised.
Of the individuals contacted, 2522 out of 6663 (38.3%) participated in the study. Of the participants, 6.6% reported high-impact chronic pain, 7.6% reported taking weak opioids in the last 4 weeks, 2.5% reported taking cannabis-based medications, 1.9% and 1.8% reported taking antidepressants and anticonvulsants for pain management, respectively, and 1.5% reported taking strong opioids. Cannabis-based medicines were obtained in 45.2% of cases with costs covered by health insurance and in 53.2% of cases through private prescriptions from general practitioners or specialists. The following additional sources of supply were reported for cannabis flowers: own cultivation: 19.4%; supply by friends: 45.2%; black market: 24.2%.
A relevant number of people in the general German population report having taken centrally acting painkillers in the last four weeks. Cannabis flowers for pain treatment are obtained from multiple and sometimes problematic sources (black market).
PMID:
42944867
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 28 Oct 2026.
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