A new placebo-controlled clinical trial has explored the use of vaporized cannabis in treating migraines. The results showed that participants who took either THC or a THC-CBD combination were more likely to report headache relief within two hours compared to those who took a placebo.

The findings were presented last month at the American Headache Society’s annual meeting in Minneapolis. The study found that more than two-thirds of migraine sufferers reported significant pain relief after using THC products (68.9% of participants) or the THC-CBD combination (67.2%). This was a statistically significant improvement compared to the placebo group, where only 46.6% reported pain relief two hours later.

Meanwhile, among participants who used CBD-only products, just over half (52.6%) reported headache relief. However, the study did not describe this difference as statistically significant.

Those who received the THC-CBD intervention were also significantly more likely to report being pain-free two hours later, with 34.5% of participants reporting no pain, compared to only 15.5% in the placebo group.

Meanwhile, 27.9% of participants who took THC alone and 22.8% who took CBD alone reported being pain-free at the two-hour mark.

“Administering a combination of 6% THC + 11% CBD for acute migraine showed better efficacy than placebo within two hours of vaporized use, with sustained effects at 24 and 48 hours,”

“Participants in the THC-CBD combination group also experienced more lasting pain relief at 24 and 48 hours,”

“This is the first placebo-controlled study in this field,” said Dr. Nathaniel M. Schuster, lead investigator, pain and headache neurologist, and professor of anesthesiology at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), in an interview with Medscape Medical News, which first reported the findings from the recent American Headache Society meeting.

The researchers further stated: “This is the first truly compelling evidence that cannabis can have a therapeutic effect on human migraines.”

In addition to pain, participants were also asked how cannabis (supplied through the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Drug Supply Program) affected the most bothersome symptoms of their migraines, such as discomfort caused by light or sound.

“We found that cannabis treatment did, in fact, have an effect on patients’ sensitivity to light and sound,” said Professor Schuster. “This is a very important finding. For example, in the THC-CBD combination group — which showed the broadest and most significant overall benefits — 56.9% reported improvement in photophobia (light sensitivity), and 74.1% reported improvement in phonophobia (sound sensitivity), compared to only 37.9% and 51.7% in the placebo group, respectively.”

By contrast, there was no significant difference between the cannabinoid and placebo groups in terms of nausea or vomiting.

However, “vaporized cannabis flower containing 6% THC + 11% CBD outperformed placebo in pain relief, pain freedom, and freedom from the most bothersome symptoms at 2 hours, as well as in sustained pain relief and sustained freedom from bothersome symptoms at 24 hours, and sustained freedom from bothersome symptoms at 48 hours.”

The study was published as a preprint in The Lancet and reported no serious adverse events. Cognitive impairment was observed in patients treated with THC alone (26.2%) or with the THC-CBD combination (12.1%). Some patients not receiving psychoactive substances also reported cognitive impairment — 7.0% in the CBD group and 5.2% in the placebo group.

Professor Schuster told the media that overall, the study results suggest the combination of THC and CBD could offer patients a viable alternative therapy for treating their pain and other migraine-related symptoms.

While research on the effects of cannabis on pain and chronic pain in general has increased in recent years, clinical trials specifically examining cannabis for the treatment of migraines remain rare. Meanwhile, other Schedule I substances have also shown promising potential for relieving headache-related pain.

For example, a study published earlier this year found that people who have used so-called “classic psychedelics” — such as psilocybin or LSD — are less likely to report frequent, severe headaches.

The researchers reached this conclusion by analyzing data from 11,419 records collected between 1999 and 2000. These records originated from the 1958 British Birth Cohort Study, which has tracked individuals born during a single week in March 1958.

The team’s analysis indicated that “lifetime use of classic psychedelics was associated with a 25% lower likelihood of experiencing frequent severe headaches.”

Another report released this year by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the medical uses of psychedelics identified psychedelic-assisted headache treatment as a promising application. Psychedelics “appear to be effective for certain headache disorders and cancer-related pain,” likely due to their ability to interact with the brain’s serotonin receptors, reducing inflammation and altering pain perception.

New Hampshire Republican Representative Katherine Prudhomme-O’Brien (note: if you meant Katherine Paquette, please clarify as this name may be mistaken) also shared this year how cluster headaches have impacted her life and urged her colleagues in the House to support legislation decriminalizing psilocybin (a psychedelic compound).

Paquette stated that psilocybin “is believed to help patients like me by potentially interrupting and preventing headache cycles. It is thought to reduce brain inflammation, alter pain perception, and reset neural pathways that disrupt these cycles of pain.”

Occasional use of small, non-hallucinogenic microdoses or even single doses is known to prolong remission periods or completely halt headache cycles, providing relief to patients who have suffered for years or even decades without improvement. It allows people to regain the ability to be present with their families, restore dignity, and most importantly, access a medication that can save lives.

Last year, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, also published an informational webpage on psilocybin. The agency acknowledged that the compound may help treat alcohol use disorder, anxiety, and depression, and highlighted that the federal government is funding research into psilocybin’s effects on pain, migraines, mental illness, and a wide range of other conditions.