A study presented at the Anesthesiology 2022 annual meeting found that those who use cannabis experience higher pain after surgery than those who don't. "Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States and increasingly used as an alternative treatment for chronic pain, but there is limited data that shows how it affects patient outcomes after surgery," said Elyad Ekrami, M.D., lead author of the study and clinical research fellow of the Outcomes Research Department at Cleveland Clinic's Anesthesiology Institute. "Our study shows that adults who use cannabis are having more -- not less -- postoperative pain. Consequently, they have higher opioid consumption after surgery." Furthermore, our study groups were balanced by confounding factors including age, sex, tobacco and other illicit drug use, depression, and psychological disorders." Furthermore, our study groups were balanced by confounding factors including age, sex, tobacco and other illicit drug use, depression, and psychological disorders."