Cannabinoids vs Opioids

“Cannabinoids stand to be one of the most interesting, safe, and accessible tools available to attenuate the devastation resulting from the misuse and abuse of opioid narcotics” ('An answered call for aid? Cannabinoid clinical framework for the opioid epidemic', Harm Reduction Journal)

In this paper recently published in the Harm Reduction Journal, the authors, physicians and scientists share the stark figures of the opioid crisis in the United States and draw attention to the fact that doctors continue to prescribe these medicines despite the known dangers of harm and addiction. The sad fact is that clinicians currently have too little choice at their disposal when prescribing licensed medicines for treating chronic pain.

The authors discuss the growing number of people self-medicating with store-bought cannabis in an effort to reduce their opioid use for their pain condition, often not even discussing it with their physicians due to the social stigma that remains in relation to cannabis in the US.

Even though cannabis has been legalised in 38 states across the US, with thousands of chronic pain sufferers using cannabis every day, users’ experiences remain anecdotal and there remains a lack of robust scientific evidence that cannabis is effective in treating chronic pain.

Both the International Association for the Study of Pain and the recent CDC guidelines have stated there is a need for further robust evidence that is approved by the FDA.

At Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies Holdings Plc, we recognise this picture all too well. This is why we are working so hard on scientific studies to provide the evidence that cannabinoids can be effective in treating chronic pain and can be, as the authors note, a ‘harm reduction tool’ available either to treat chronic pain from the start or as a tool to help reduce opioid use for individuals.

Our lead programme, OCT461201, will target neuropathic and visceral pain, including irritable bowel syndrome and chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy, with Phase 1trial results, aimed at demonstrating safety and tolerability, expected in Q3 2023. We have a further pipeline of 3 further drug programmes and, we hope, to be able to make a strong contribution in reducing opioid-related harm and addiction, bringing benefits to patients and reducing costs for health systems and consumers.

https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-023-00842-6