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Tag: Sativex

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Sativex Associated With Opioid-Sparing Effects

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Science.

In a perfect world, every suffering patient that could benefit from the cannabis plant would have safe access to it in all of its forms. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world.

In a less-than-perfect world, patients are at the mercy of what medical cannabis products are legally available in their area. Sativex is one option that is available in places that prohibit most, if not all, other forms of medical cannabis products.

A recent study found that Sativex may reduce opioid consumption rates among pain patients. It is worth noting that shaming people that have to use opioids for whatever reason is not OK.

With that being said, cannabis is absolutely safer than opioids so anyone that can transition from opioids to cannabis is a good thing. Below is more information about the recent study via a news release from NORML:

Oslo, Norway: Prescription opioid users who frequently consume the cannabis plant-derived extract medication Sativex (nabiximols) substantially reduce their opioid intake over time, according to data published in the journal Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Technology.

Sativex is an oromucosal cannabis spray containing nearly equal portions of plant-derived THC and CBD. It is available by prescription in numerous countries, but it is not FDA-approved in the United States.

A team of researchers affiliated with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health assessed the relationship between the use of Sativex and opioids over a one-year period in a cohort of patients prescribed both substances.

They reported that those who filled their Sativex prescriptions three times or more during the study period decreased their use of prescription opioids. This decrease “was even more evident among those filling five or more prescriptions.” By contrast, an inverse relationship was identified among those infrequently engaged in the use of Sativex.

Authors concluded: “This is one of a few studies investigating the impact of medicinal cannabis use on individual level opioid use. … Looking at all those filling a prescription for Sativex, opioid use was only marginally lowered in the follow-up period. Some Sativex users, however, filled more prescriptions for Sativex and were able to reduce their opioid use substantially. Further studies are needed to elucidate more details on these patients, so as to know who can benefit from such cannabis-based extracts in reducing their opioid use.”

Numerous studies have previously identified a relationship between patients’ consumption of medical cannabis and a reduction in their use of opioids and other prescription drugs.

Full text of the study, “Possible opioid-saving effect of cannabis-based medicine using individual-based data from the Norwegian Prescription Database,” appears in Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology. Additional information is available from NORML’s fact sheet, “Relationship Between Marijuana and Opioids.”

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The NHS Legalizes Two Cannabis Based Medications

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Medical.

While the struggle for cannabis reform goes on in the United Kingdom, GW Pharmaceuticals is laughing all the way to the bank. At the beginning of the month, NICE (the friendly-sounding drugs advisory body) issued stringent and narrow guidelines for prescriptions of cannabinoid medication that sounded like they came from the last century.

Notably, NICE appeared only to issue guidelines for prescription of GW Pharma’s drugs – Epidiolex and Sativex. Also NICE specifically recommended that medical cannabis was not prescribed for chronic pain, any neurological condition outside of epilepsy, and both cancer and AIDS seem to be off the table, as well as conditions like glaucoma.

At least for now.

In a noted good development, GW is also now lowering the cost of the drugs, although total numbers of Lennox Gastaut and Dravet Syndrome patients (children) are just at the breakpoint for crossing over from “orphan” to mainstream drug.

Manufacturers are able to charge higher prices for orphan drugs because such drugs are not bought in bulk. There are about 8,000 children in the UK with these conditions. The treatment currently costs between ₤5-10,000 ($6-12,000) per patient per year.

That said, this is a narrow window of care. Many parents of children with epilepsy are importing drugs from the EU and Canada because Epidiolex either does not work as effectively or the effect tapers off. This amounts to thousands of pounds per month, per child.

Sativex will also be available, but only for MS patients. Previously the NHS had refused to cover the cost of the mouth spray (also very expensive), on the grounds that the cost was too high relative to the impact of the drug.

While the policy changes, in other words, benefit one company, it is likely that pressure groups, from patient lobbies to industry ones, will now have a basis to press forward for greater reform if not opening of the market.

But nothing comes fast here. In the meantime, British patients are indeed being tasked with keeping a “stiff upper lip,” when it comes to using cannabis to treat pain or indeed any other condition.

As with many things in the cannabis industry if not reform, there are frequently times when the hard-fought steps forward on acceptance of the plant as a drug take a few paces back too.

The British market is opening. But so far, those who must rely on public healthcare are being completely left out of the game when it comes to medical coverage for other conditions. Only 18 prescriptions have been issued so far in the last year per the NHS. A Freedom of Information Act request reveals that only 108 prescriptions have been processed privately.

It is estimated that 1.4 million Britons currently avail themselves of the black market to obtain their cannabis for conditions ranging from chronic pain to spasticity.