Cannabis could be prescribed as painkiller on NHS for those suffering with chronic pain

Those suffering with chronic pain could soon be prescribed cannabis on the NHS as a form of pain relief as the UK’s first trial is approved.

Medicinal cannabis has been legal in the UK since 2018, but only in very specific forms and from certain areas of the plant. 

However, this could soon change thanks to an upcoming trial that will see 5,000 adults diagnosed with chronic pain test the treatment to see if it works. 

According to The Times, the participants will take vaporised cannabis daily for at least a year through inhalers that dispense cartridges containing a measured dose of ‘whole flower’ unprocessed marijuana. 

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Researchers hope the major trial, called CanPain and run by private firm LVL Health, will begin later this year after the completion of an initial three-month ‘feasibility study’ involving 100 patients, which has been approved by the Health Research Authority.

Those from the feasibility study will be compared with a the control group of 5,000 adults of similar age, sex and health receiving standard pain care, to see if cannabis leads to a significant reduction in pain.

Participants will record data such as sleep quality, symptoms of nausea and fatigue and quality of life using a mobile app.

The data from the trial will then be assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to decide if cannabis should be approved as an NHS treatment. 

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Tony Samios, from LVL Health, said that if all goes to plan cannabis will be rolled out on the NHS for chronic pain ‘within the next few years’.

He said: “We’re hoping we will provide the data that Nice and the NHS require to get it prescribed… absolutely millions could benefit.

“Doctors are very limited in what they can prescribe [for chronic pain]. The only course of treatment they really have is opioids unfortunately.

“So patients tend to seek other forms of pain management and alternative treatments that could be anything from acupuncture to physiotherapy.”

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The cannabis is estimated to cost £299 a month per patient.

It is also hoped that by legalising the use of cannabis in this way, people would no longer illegally self-medicate themselves by buying ‘poor quality product’ from dealers.

The NHS says there is ‘some evidence medical cannabis can help certain types of pain, though this evidence is not yet strong enough to recommend it for pain relief’.

CanPain is due to run for the next three years and will be open to those aged from eighteen to eighty-five years old and living with non-cancerous chronic pain diagnoses.