Medicinal cannabis ‘helps relieve cancer pain’ and cuts need for drugs, new study shows

Medicinal cannabis seemed to be safe and generally well-tolerated in the study.

Medicinal cannabis helps relieve cancer pain and can cut down on how many drugs people need, research suggests.

A new study found that products with an equal balance of the active ingredients tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) seemed to be the most effective for pain.

At the moment, only specialist hospital doctors can prescribe cannabis-based medicines on the NHS, and only for a few limited conditions such as rare and severe epilepsy, vomiting or nausea caused by chemotherapy and muscle stiffness caused by multiple sclerosis (MS).