Dagga is no more effective in relieving pain than conventional painkillers and should therefore not be used in the treatment of patients, a British study has found.
According to a study published in the British Medical Journal, cannabinoids, which are the active substances in cannabis (dagga), are no more effective than conventional analgesics in controlling pain and have undesirable side effects.
The authors have concluded that the introduction of cannabis into mainstream clinical practice for pain management is not appropriate.
Fiona Campbell, a consultant in anaesthetics and pain management at the Pain Management Centre, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, and her team reviewed nine trials involving more than 200 patients to establish whether cannabinoids were an effective and safe treatment option for acute or long-term (chronic) pain.
In all trials, cannabinoids were given as tablets or by intramuscular injection. The authors found no studies on smoked cannabis.
"In eight of the nine trials, cannabinoids were no more effective than coheddydeine tablets in controlling acute and chronic pain. Furthermore, side effects associated with the cannabinoids were common and sometimes severe," Campbell said.
However, she said that while cannabinoids were unlikely to be useful in acute post-operative pain, they may be effective in chronic non-cancer pain.