New cannabis-like drugs may block pain without affecting brain
Cannabis-like drugs could block pain without affecting the brain, a new study has suggested.
Cannabinoid receptors called CB2, which can be activated by cannabis use, are present in human sensory nerves but not in a normal human brain.
Drugs which activate the CB2 receptors are able to block pain by stopping pain signals being transmitted in human sensory nerves, according to researchers from Imperial College London.
The conclusions, published in the medical journal Pain, were reached after a study of human sensory nerve cells in culture with CB2 receptor compounds, as well as injured nerves from patients with chronic pain.
Praveen Anand, Professor of Clinical Neurology and principal investigator of the study from the Division of Neurosciences and Mental Health at Imperial College London, commented: "Although cannabis is probably best known as an illegal recreational drug, people have used it for medicinal purposes for centuries.
"Queen Victoria used it in tea to help with her period pains, and people with a variety of conditions say that it helps alleviate their symptoms.
A spokesman for the Arthritis Research Campaign, which has carried out small-scale studies of cannabidiol - a natural constituent of cannabis that has no mind-altering effects in its purified form - said it was known that cannabis had pain-relieving properties. A cannabis oral spray called Sativex is available to relieve pain in multiple sclerosis patients. 
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