Medicinal cannabis can help relieve pain caused by cancer and reduce the number of drugs patients need, Canadian research suggests.

In a study of 358 cancer patients, researchers concluded it was a safe option for managing pain, alongside other drugs.

Only specialist hospital doctors can prescribe cannabis-based medicines on the NHS, mostly for severe epilepsy.

Research on how well they treat pain is still being collected in the UK.

The study, published in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, researchers found medicinal cannabis to be “a safe and effective complementary treatment for pain relief in patients with cancer”.

Products with an equal balance of the active ingredients tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) seemed to be the most effective.

Cannabis plants contain both – but while THC produces a “high”, CBD does not.

Of the patients studied:

The most common side-effects were:

The researchers, from McGill University, in Montreal, Harvard Medical School, in Boston and the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, among others, say about a third of all cancer patients and two-thirds of those who are terminally ill experience moderate to severe pain.

Painkillers are the standard treatment – but a third of cancer patients are still thought to experience pain. [Read More @ BBC News]