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UK: Cannabis pill pain relief trial scheme for RUH
The Bath Chronicle
Thursday 21 Aug 2003 Patients at Bath's Royal United Hospital could be given cannabis as pain relief after operations as part of a nationwide trial. Researchers are hoping to recruit patients to take part in the experiment to discover whether the drug is an effective pain reliever compared to other more conventional medicines. Patients taking part will be randomly assigned an oral pill, containing either standardised cannabis extract or a capsule containing tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in cannabis. Other patients will be given a standard pain relieving drug or a placebo in the study funded by the Medical Research Council. Patients' reactions to the treatment will then be assessed over a six hour period. Dr Anita Holdcroft, who is leading the UKP500,000 study said: "My patients and clinicians want an answer to the questions of whether cannabis is effective at relieving pain. "We need to assess the scientific merits of some of the anecdotal evidence and we need to do this in the same way as any other experimental pain treatment. "This is a proper study in a clinical setting where patients can be routinely monitored, using an oral capsule containing a prescribed dose." The RUH was one of a number of hospitals approached by the study team, although it has not yet formally agreed to take part. A spokeswoman for the hospital said: "As a busy trust that undertakes a large number of procedures the RUH is always interested in trials of new medicines and treatments. "The hospital was contacted a while ago about this particular nationwide trial and our response at the time was that we would need more information about how the trial is to be conducted, and we also need to look at the implications for the trust."
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