Protocols issued by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society are to be used in a study of the therapeutic effects of cannabis and cannabinoids in acute pain associated with surgery.
The multicentre clinical trial is to go ahead following the award of a £400,000 grant by the Medical Research Council. Led by Dr Anita Holdcroft (reader in anaesthesia, Hammersmith hospital and Imperial College school of medicine), the trial will take place in hospitals in London and Bristol.
The Society's protocols are already being used in a three-year clinical trial to assess the therapeutic effect of both cannabis extract and pure tetrahydrocannabinol in spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis (PJ, December 18/25, 1999, p974). The double-blind, randomised trial is being led by Dr John Zajicek (consultant neurologist, Derriford hospital, Plymouth) and is funded by an MRC grant of £950,000.
Commenting on the acute pain trial, the Society's chief scientist (Professor Tony Moffat) said: "The Society is delighted to be involved, for the second time, in a major clinical trial which will investigate the therapeutic effects of cannabis."
The MRC-funded trials are separate from work being carried out by GW Pharmaceuticals, a commercial organisation, which has started phase II clinical trials of cannabis-based products in severe pain and spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and other conditions (PJ, April 15, p568).

Cannabis extracts are being tested for effectiveness against acute pain and the spasticity of multiple sclerosis