High cannabidiol oil for the treatment of chronic pain and anxiety: Results from Project Twenty21 Australia
Authors
Kylie O'Brien, Justin Beilby, Michael Lynskey, Michael Barnes, Anne Schlag and David Nutt
Published
September 16, 2026
Abstract
Background
Chronic pain and anxiety are two common conditions for which medicinal cannabis (MC) is prescribed in Australia. Project Twenty21 Australia was an observational study that investigated the effectiveness of MC for chronic pain, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and multiple sclerosis, following patients for up to 12 months. The analysis reported in this paper is restricted to patients prescribed one specific full-spectrum high cannabidiol (CBD) oil, CannC CBD3000/5000, for chronic pain or anxiety at three-month follow-up.
Methods
CannC CBD3000/5000 are the same high CBD oil product (100 mg/ml CBD, 30 or 50 ml bottles) derived from two cannabis cultivars, Charlotte's Web and Charlotte's Angel. Changes in pain (severity, interference) and anxiety from baseline over 3 months were measured using the Brief Pain Inventory and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 Questionnaire, respectively. Secondary outcome variables included mood/depression, quality of life, perceived general health and sleep quality.
Results
Three-month follow-up data (9 anxiety patients, 22 chronic pain patients prescribed only CannC CBD3000/5000) showed that, compared with baseline, for chronic pain patients there was a significant improvement in pain severity and mood/depression, whilst for anxiety patients, there were significant improvements in anxiety and mood/depression. When results were combined for the two cohorts, perceived overall health, mood and sleep were all significantly improved from baseline at 3 months.
Conclusion
CannC CBD3000/5000 may be useful in the treatment of chronic pain and anxiety. More research is needed in full-spectrum CBD products to investigate their potential efficacy in common conditions such as anxiety and chronic pain.
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