A new study finds that patients given mild doses of marijuana can experience relief from neuropathic pain -- often related to spinal-cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, and other nerve injuries -- without becoming intoxicated, Reuters reported May 1.

Researcher Barth Wilsey of the University of California at Davis Medical Center and colleagues studied a group of 38 patients with neuropathic pain, testing the effects of smoked marijuana containing 7 percent or 3.5 percent THC against a placebo. The study authors found that both doses of marijuana provided identical pain relief, but those taking the lower dose were less likely to report feeling "high."

"The lower dose did not adversely affect people's thinking," Wilsey said. "There might be a therapeutic window that we could advise for using smoked cannabis in treating nerve injury pain."

Neuropathic pain is commonly treated with antidepressants, anticonvulsants, opioids, or anti-inflammitory drugs, but relief can be elusive.

The study appears online in The Journal of Pain.