Medicinal cannabis for pain: Real-world data on three-month changes in symptoms and quality of life

Authors Kylie O’Brien, Justin Beilby, Michelle Frans, Michael Lynskey, Michael Barnes, Mihindu Jayasuriya, Alkyoni Athanasiou-Fragkouli, Philip Blair and David Nutt Published May 25, 2023 Background Internationally, one of the most common conditions for which people seek medicinal cannabis (MC) is chronic pain. However, relatively little is known about the effectiveness of cannabis for reducing pain  …


Combating the stigma: a T21 success story

By Louise McConnell Although medical cannabis has been legal in the UK for more than four years, there still exists a great deal of stigma and resistance to medical cannabis among many people including healthcare providers. Louise was diagnosed with osteoarthritis at the age of 21, diagnosed with fibromyalgia in her 40s and very recently  …


Project Twenty21 - August Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email Project Twenty21: August Update 16th August 2022 We’re doing some work behind the scenes to revamp the way our monthly T21 data update is laid out, so this month’s data points will be a little delayed and released as soon as they are ready – please bear with us! In the meantime,  …


Project Twenty21 - July Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email Our Project Twenty21 monthly updates have changed. From now on, we will be incorporating the medical cannabis news (previously included in our T21 mailout) into the Drug Science newsletter which goes out around the first Tuesday of every month. This means that from next month you will receive a second  …


Project Twenty21 - June Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email Project Twenty21 June Update The big news this month is that our Chronic Pain paper has been published! Using Project Twenty21 data, it looks at the characteristics of people seeking prescribed cannabinoids for the treatment of chronic pain. Our results demonstrate the complexities of studying chronic pain, and the  …


Project Twenty21 - May Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email Project Twenty21 May Update We are well over the 2500 mark now with the number of patients registered with the project. Thank you for everything you do as supporters of Drug Science to help us spread the word about medical cannabis and Project Twenty21. Our research project with the University  …


Project Twenty21 - April Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email   Project Twenty21 April Update This month we’re celebrating another fantastic clinic joining us, plus some of the exciting events that we’re involved with in the coming weeks – including one organised by a Twenty21 patient. And there’s even more in the pipeline – as always, we’ll keep you fully up-to-date  …


Project Twenty21 - March Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email Spring is definitely here – our website has undergone a Spring-clean, we’re continuing to see encouraging results from our data analysis and there are lots of events (both virtual and in-person) on the horizon where we’ll be spreading the word about medical cannabis. We’ve got good news, that we’ve updated  …


Project Twenty21 - February Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email It’s been a very busy start to the year, with lots of change happening and expansion in the pipeline for the project – so there’s so much to update you on. We’ve got loads of events coming up, so scroll down to get them in your diary. As mentioned  …


Project Twenty21 - January Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email We recently announced a change to the pricing model of Project Twenty21. We understand that the news was unwelcome for some patients, especially for those who are prescribed higher dosages or on significantly lower incomes. We take people’s concerns seriously, and recognise that patients would benefit from having more  …


Project Twenty21 in 2022: A Message for Patients

Update What you have helped us achieve so far Our medical cannabis registry, Project Twenty21, was originally designed to run until the end of 2021 (hence the name). As you will know from your own life during the pandemic, the last two years have been full of challenges and obstacles. Project Twenty21 has navigated the  …


Project Twenty21 - December Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email To mark the end of the year that is our namesake, we’re proud to announce that we’ve reached 2000 patients contributing their data to Project Twenty21. In a recent article for Cannabis Health, our Head of Development, David Horn, reflects on the last two years and our somewhat ambitious goal  …


Project Twenty21 - November Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email It’s certainly been an eventful past month for Project Twenty21! Drug Science and its supporters celebrated its achievements to date at the House of Lords in mid-October, which included a moving speech from our patient advocate, Lucy Stafford, detailing her journey with medical cannabis.  As Medical Cannabis Awareness Week 2021 (MCAW)  …


Project Twenty21 - October Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email   We’re pleased to finally be able to announce that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in adults has now been added to the list of indications covered by the study. This means that we will be able to start collecting data on how medical cannabis affects adults diagnosed with ADHD  …


Project Twenty21 - September Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email Last month saw Drug Science’s festival debut as we took up a stand alongside our medical cannabis friends from PLEA, Medcan Support and MedcannID at the incredible Product Earth Expo. We gave away hundreds of stickers, badges and posters to help spread the word about medical cannabis and Project Twenty21.  …


Students “End the Stigma” around medical cannabis this Freshers Week and improve access for young patients

Order Printed Materials Print at Home Materials As UK students look forward to an ‘in person’ Freshers Week this September, the research and policy charity Drug Science has enlisted the help of student ambassadors to help spread the word about the potential benefits of medical cannabis, and tell the honest and factual truth about drugs  …


Project Twenty21 - August Update

Get Project Twenty21 Updates via Email It’s been another busy month at Project Twenty21, with new patient numbers continuing to grow month-on-month, as you will see from our July data below. Last month, we spoke to Leafie about the progress of the project and what we’re learning from the data – you can read the  …


Project Twenty21 - July Update

In this update, find out what GPs think about medical cannabis as we celebrate 1000 patients joining Project Twenty21. We share updates on the project, including new clinics and data insights, as well as initiatives working to improve medical cannabis in the UK. We also announce new events related to the project and medical cannabis  …


Project Twenty21 - June Update

In this update, we reveal a new clinical analysis of epilepsy T21 epilepsy patients and share the latest data and patient stories from Project Twenty21. We also announce new events related to the project and medical cannabis more generally. Learn more about Project Twenty21 Over the past month, we’ve been working away behind the scenes  …


Project Twenty21 - May Update

In this update, we reveal the first paper to be published from Project Twenty21! We also share the latest data and patient experiences, as well as a video showing what it’s like to be a prescriber with Project Twenty21. We also announce new events related to the project and medical cannabis more generally. Learn more  …


Project Twenty21 - April Update

In this update, we reveal the latest data and patient experiences with Project Twenty21, and reveal some exciting news from NICE.  We also announce new events related to the project and how you can get involved. Learn more about Project Twenty21 Last month we asked for your stories, and we’re thrilled with the response we  …


Charlie Hughes’ family drop their court case against NICE

We are greatly encouraged by the news that NICE updated their guidelines around medical cannabis for children with severe epilepsy. The clinical guidance now clearly states: ‘There is no recommendation against the use of cannabis-based medicinal products’ – meaning that Matt and Ali Hughes were able to drop their court case over the prescribing guidelines  …


Project Twenty21 - March Update

Last month we asked for your stories, and we’re thrilled with the response we received. These provide us with valuable insights and snapshots into the experiences of our patients, both the benefits and the challenges. Thank you so much for submitting these, and we would love to gather more of these stories in the coming  …


Medical cannabis dependence: A critical review of issues and evidence

Authors: Anne K Schlag, Chandni Hindocha, Rayyan Zafar, David J Nutt, H Valerie Curran Published: February 17, 2021 This Drug Science research was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. For recreational users, the estimated chances of becoming dependent on cannabis after any lifetime exposure is 8.9%, which is considerably lower than for cocaine (20.9%), alcohol  …

Project Twenty21 - February Update

In this update, we reveal the latest data from Project Twenty21 and unveil a new online form that patients can use to share their story and experience with medical cannabis through Project Twenty21. We also answer some of the most frequent questions that are asked about medical cannabis through Project Twenty21, and clarify the step-by-step  …


Childhood Epilepsy Case Study: Gino Londra

A Closer Look at the Families Struggling to Cope with the Huge Financial and Personal Burden of Accessing Medical Cannabis to Treat Childhood Epilepsy By Danielle Johnson, Clinical Scientist in Neurophysiology and member of the Medical Cannabis Working Group at Drug Science In recent years, the case for medical cannabis as a treatment for drug-resistant  …


Letter of recommendation to the ACMD

Download our letter to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs   Dear Owen Bowden-Jones I am writing on behalf of Drug Science in relation to the ACMD update report on medical cannabis last November. The Drug Science Medical Cannabis Working Group (MCWG) has now had time to discuss your report and I wanted  …