BODY’S PAIN RELIEF MIMICS CANNABIS

The ability of cannabis to control the pain of people suffering from illnesses such as multiple sclerosis and arthritis may arise because the body makes similar chemicals to control pain signals.

Scientists have discovered that cannabis-like substances that the body produces are key in the control of pain experienced beyond the central nervous system.

That would tally with the preference of a growing number of people who are smoking cannabis to control symptoms from various illnesses. In California, a recent by-law allowed people to grow cannabis for medicinal purposes.

According to work published today in the science journal Nature, "cannabinoid receptors" located outside the brain and spine are affected when the skin or flesh is cut or hurt. A cannabis-like chemical produced by the body, called anadamide, is released when cells are damaged and helps to ease the pain sensation.

Working together with another cannabinoid called PEA that the body makes, they reduced pain 100-fold, scientists found.

Antonio Calignano, at the University of Naples in Italy, found that rats which were treated with a chemical that blocked the action of anadamide showed longer and greater reaction to pain.

The findings could be important for research now underway in Britain, where the Home Office last month issued the first-ever licence to grow cannabis for investigation into the development of medicines.

Dr Geoffrey Guy, who is running the tests, aims to extract active chemicals from the plants and check their effectiveness as painkillers. "I’m interested in producing something helpful to certain people, such as multiple sclerosis sufferers, people with painful spinal injuries and pain from nerve diseases," he said last month.