High hopes for a new cannabis-based alternative to opioid painkillers

More than one in three adults in the UK suffers from chronic pain just under 28 million people, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). But until now, the treatment options have been severely limited by the addictiveness of opioid painkillers.

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While opioids such as codeine and morphine dull pain, they also produce a sense of euphoria that can become habit-forming over longer periods of use. There are about 20 legal opioids in the UK currently, but only available on prescription from a doctor and generally only for three months at a time for non-cancer patients. Heroin, the opioid made from morphine, is classified as a highly illegal Class A drug.

But now Vertanical, a German pharmaceutical company, claims it has designed a non-addictive alternative to opioid painkillers based on the cannabis plant rather than the poppy. Called VER-01, it's currently at phase three of the clinical trial stage, checking its safety and efficacy. The results of a study involving about 800 participants suffering chronic back pain are currently under review from medical journal The Lancet.