Pain relief seems to require some lowering of consciousness generally. For example, we daydream to relieve the pain of boring experiences. And when we undergo general anesthesia we lose all ability to perceive the moment or form memories.

I will agree and disagree with this comment.

In my experience, I find that it depends on the 'type/cause' of the pain. For soft-tissue related I find it helpful, while for hard-tissue related it does not.

Here are my anecdotes.

I've got 3 different types of back problems. (a) deteriorating cartilage between vertebrae causes bone-on-bone grinding -Cannabis does not help with that

(b) muscle spasms in 'other parts' of back from another cause. -Cannabis does help

(c) neuropathy -Cannabis helps quiet the nerves too

IMHO b & c are related, it's a sedative-like effect. AND related to the points in TFA; it helps me to sleep when B & C are active.