Marijuana in a pill may work ever better as a pain reliever than the smoked form and with fewer harmful side-effects, say experts.
New research, carried out by Columbia University in New York, could undermine the burgeoning U.S. medical marijuana market, which is now estimated to be worth $1.3 billion and expected to reach $9billion in the next three years.
The drug is commonly used by patients suffering with cancer, multiple sclerosis and other painful conditions.
Marijuana in a pill may work ever better as a pain reliever than the smoked form and with fewer harmful side-effect
The findings could undermine the burgeoning U.S. medical marijuana market, which is now estimated to be worth $1.3 billion
In the UK, Sativex, a cannabis-derived mouth spray, has been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, but it remains difficult for patients to obtain because many NHS trusts refuse to prescribe it due to its cost.
In the new trial of 30 men and women, some smoked the drug, others took the active chemical in a pill called dronabinol and the rest took a placebo, according to a report in Medical News Today.
Dronabinol contains the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC.
THC helps block signals from nerve endings reaching the brain which in turn inhibits pain.
More...
Treatment with statins can perk up a man's love life
Mushrooms can provide as much vitamin D as supplements - but only if you put them in the sun before you eat them
Participants were asked to place their hands in ice cold water and then timed to find out how long it took to feel pain and how long the individual could keep their hands submerged.
Results showed that both the smokers and those taking the pill were able to withstand pain for longer.
But most surprisingly, those who took dronabinol were able to endure pain longer than smokers taking the drug in the traditional manner.
And while smoking the drug decreased pain sensitivity for two and a half hours, the pill continued to provide pain-reducing effects for over four hours.
Medical marijuana requires a special card to show that their condition warrants the use of the drug. People who took the dronabinol pill were able to endure pain longer than those who smoked marijuana
However, the analgesic effect of the pill took much longer to work – dronabinol took an hour compared with just 15 minutes for smoking the drug.
Those who took part in the study also reported that they found the effects of dronabinol less pleasurable, compared with people who smoked cannabis, suggesting that the pill has less potential for abuse.
Medical marijuana is legal in 18 U.S. states, and recent research has suggested that the majority of Americans believe the drug should be legalised.
The research carried out by PewResearch Centre for People and the Press showed that for the first time in 40 years 52 per cent said it should be legalised and 72 per cent saying the crackdown on the drug is not worth the money it costs the government.
Marijuana contains the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol which has been clinically proven to reduce pain
The same poll showed that nearly half of Americans admitted to having tried marijuana at some point in their lifetime.
The new findings suggest a marijuana pill 'can produce analgesic effects for longer without the health risks that come along with smoking,' said study researcher Ziva Cooper, an assistant professor of clinical neurobiology at Columbia University's Department of Psychiatry.
However, she added that more research is needed to confirm the results.
Because the study involved healthy people, it's not clear if those suffering with chronic pain would experience the same effect from the pill.
Previous studies have shown that smoking cannabis helps reduce general pain, nerve pain, improve sleep and mood.