Medical cannabis trial in France shows promising results in pain relief

A study using medical cannabis has shown “overwhelmingly positive” initial results in 60% of patients whose pain could not be relieved with conventional treatments.

The drug is expected to be widely available on prescription next year.

More than 3,000 patients have participated in the French study on medical cannabis since it began in 2021.

A government decree extended the study, which was scheduled to begin in April, until the end of this year. The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) announced that the first treatments would be available from 2025.

“We have shown that hundreds of health professionals can be trained to prescribe new drugs, but above all we have shown that these treatments are a perfect addition to the drug arsenal for patients who have reached a therapeutic impasse,” said Professor Nicolas Authier, Chairman of the Temporary Scientific Committee to Monitor Experiments with Cannabis for Medical Use (CST). The Point.

Neuropathic pain

The study targeted neuropathic pain that does not respond to other therapies, certain forms of drug-resistant epilepsy, and certain symptoms related to cancer or cancer treatment that are also treatment-resistant.

“It is only for people for whom all other treatments have failed,” said Mado Gilanton The connectionand it is not a long-term solution as it only relieves the symptoms.

Ms. Gilanton is a member of the CST and president of the Apaiser association, which supports patients with syringomyelia and Chiari malformations.

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These two rare diseases involve the spinal cord and cerebellum. The main symptoms are neuropathic pain and spasticity, which are often only alleviated by the consumption of cannabis.

“I have neuropathic pain, but not the worst in the bandage.

“To describe the pain, it's like jumping into a field of nettles every morning and then my feet are hit with electrified barbed wire,” Ms Gilanton said. “There is no other treatment that relieves the pain.”

“There is no lack of research. Research simply cannot find a method to relieve pain other than lethal doses of morphine or opiates.”

Relieves “more than all other treatments combined”

About 60 percent of study participants found that taking medical marijuana helped relieve their symptoms. That's “more than all other treatments combined, including very strong morphine or opiates,” Ms. Gilanton said.

Before the trial, those affected by the association treated their symptoms with cannabis that they had grown themselves or obtained from “a friend of a friend,” Ms. Gilanton said.

One advantage of providing medical cannabis is therefore better control and medical aftercare.

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The form of cannabis treatment that will be available on prescription in France in 2025 will depend on what pharmaceutical companies offer. It is hoped that sprays and vaporizers will be among them.

The costs will be reimbursed by Insurance Maladie.

Possible obstacles

However, there may still be obstacles to providing these treatments: “All it takes is a stupid health minister trying successfully to prevent this. I am less confident now than before, although we are still on the right track,” Ms Gilanton said.

“Aurélien Rousseau (the former health minister) knew what it was like to have neuropathic pain, but people who are not sick usually don't understand that. Some politicians have tried to mix recreational and medical use to fight medical marijuana,” she added.

One of the arguments against medical cannabis was the risk of addiction. However, many sufferers are in palliative care and are looking for relief before they die.

Dependence

Ms Gilanton added that patients are particularly vigilant because they have been prescribed opiates and do not want to become dependent on them, and that this is no different with medical cannabis.

She added that most of the patients in the study were over 50 years old and did not suddenly switch to marijuana “for fun.”

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You have to have a significant amount of medical marijuana to justify recreational use, she said. At the same time, the arguments for recreational use apply to all sorts of other painkillers, she added.

She is convinced that continuing education and training for medical professionals will be crucial for the future.

“An important part of this study are the doctors who took part without really believing in the benefits, but who have now all recognized them and are convinced of their effectiveness.”