News today3 May 2023 14:59
Medicinal cannabis helps relieve cancer pain and can complement other painkilling drugs, research has suggested.
A study of 358 adults with cancer found that an equal balance of active ingredients tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), significantly helped pain intensity and the interference of pain in daily life.
THC is the substance in cannabis that is primarily responsible for producing the 'high' sensation.
Researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, and the Medical Cannabis Programme in Oncology at Cedars Cancer Centre in Canada, concluded that medicinal cannabis is "a safe and effective complementary treatment for pain relief in patients with cancer".
Currently, only specialist doctors can prescribe cannabis-based medicines on the NHS, and only for a few limited conditions such as rare and severe epilepsy.