University of Pittsburgh pain specialist Ajay D. Wasan and his colleagues present what seems to be compelling evidence of marijuana's ability to broadly treat chronic pain. used an innovative statistical technique to compare chronic pain patients who received marijuana recommendations with chronic pain patients who received standard pharmaceuticals, including opioids. When it comes to chronic pain, marijuana does have some promise in treating discomfort caused by neuropathy and fibromyalgia. If a marijuana derivative could work as an all-purpose pain reliever, it might be the only reasonable opioid replacement for chronic pain. Prohibitionists argue that medical marijuana is a strategy aimed at achieving de facto recreational access, and they have a point.