One of the benefits of marijuana that has been said by many, is that it alleviates pain.
A study has found how marijuana plants produce pain-killing molecules that are 30 times stronger than aspirin.
“There’s clearly a need to develop alternatives for relief of acute and chronic pain that go beyond opioids,” stated Tariq Akhtar, a University of Guelph biology professor and the author of the study.
The pain-relieving molecules are called cannflavin A and cannflavin B, and they decrease pain by fighting off inflammation. They are psychoactive either said the Canadian researchers.
The study appears in the August edition of the journal Phytochemistry.
“Being able to offer a new pain relief option is exciting, and we are proud that our work has the potential to become a new tool in the pain relief arsenal,” said Steven Rothstein, another biology professor at the Ontario university who also worked on the study.
“If you know what you’re looking for, one can bring genes to life, so to speak, and piece together how molecules like cannflavins A and B are assembled,” Akhtar added. He called the process “a relatively straightforward exercise these days.”
“The problem with these molecules is they are present in cannabis at such low levels, it’s not feasible to try to engineer the cannabis plant to create more of these substances,” Rothstein said.
