Cannabis to be tested as painkiller

HOSPITAL patients in Britain scheduled to undergo surgery are being recruited to take part in trials to find out if cannabis can provide pain relief after an operation.

The trials are being carried out at hospitals throughout Britain in the hope of measuring the effects of cannabis plant extract against other pain-relieving drugs.

Doctors carrying out the study for the Medical Research Council are hoping to recruit 400 surgical patients to take part.

Each patient is to be randomly assigned to one of four oral pain-relieving treatments containing either standardised cannabis extract, tetrahydrocannabinol (an active ingredient in cannabis), a standard pain relieving drug, or a placebo.

The drug will be administered orally via a capsule containing a prescribed dose.

The pain relief and side effects will then be assessed over a six-hour period, with patients being asked to respond to questions about their pain and feelings.

Dr Anita Holdcroft, from Imperial College London, who is leading the study, said anecdotal evidence suggesting that cannabis could provide effective pain relief for a variety of debilitating conditions needed to be assessed scientifically.

“My patients and clinicians want an answer to the question of whether cannabis is effective at relieving pain.

“We need to assess the scientific merits of some of the anecdotal evidence and we need to do this in the same way as any other experimental pain treatment.

“This is a proper study in a clinical setting where patients can be routinely monitored, using an oral capsule containing a prescribed dose,” she said.

She added that if oral cannabis plant extract was found to be effective and without adverse side effects, it could provide another pain relief option to doctors and patients.