Dr Farrah Ayob: With cannabis, pain sufferers can live normal lives

I learned a lot from Canada…

I did my fellowship in Toronto Canada, where I saw a lot of patients who had been on cannabis while in hospital – they’re not using it in hospital, but already in the community. I learned a lot from that.

I have heard life-changing stories from cannabis patients…

When I followed up with patients, I heard life-changing stories about pain. Patients who have significant ski injury, paraplegia and all that sort of complex pain issues. Cannabis is really helpful for them. Not only for their pain, but also for their wellbeing and mood.

95% of my patients are happy with how cannabis works for their pain…

I see about 20 to 30 patients a week. More than 95% of my patients find they are satisfied with their progress for managing their pain compared to conventional medicines. They have guidance from me on how to use cannabis. We monitor them – and we see the difference in them. They feel a lot more reassured that all the anxiety with using grey-market cannabis is gone.

I’ve learned which strains are good for which conditions…

My patients educate me on the various ways of using cannabis – some make it into edibles, and some use a vape pen. They tell me which strains have been effective. The flower is categorised into different families – for example, Kush, which is good for night-time relaxation or spasms. Over the course of the years, I’ve learned which strain is good for certain conditions and also whether there are any side effects or potential complications.

Cannabis doesn’t have the side effects of conventional pain medicines…

Working with cannabis is definitely very satisfying for me: it’s a branch of pain medicine. A lot of the conventional medicines that we prescribe have side effects. Although it might help somewhat, it just doesn’t give patients a quality of life that they want. They might get side effects of drowsiness or of feeling fatigued, or not being able to get out of bed or doing the normal activities.

With cannabis, pain patients can live normal lives…

With cannabis, their pain is significantly reduced most of the time and they also get more function on a daily basis. They can go out more or even do work, spend time with their families, sleep better and also have a better mood. This is a great medicine which holistically supports my patients quality of life.

Not many medical professionals know about cannabis…

Cannabis in the UK is still quite new. It is definitely on the rise. But not a lot of other medical professionals know much about it. We certainly don’t learn in medical school. However, more and more specialists such as rheumatologists are now more aware because they come across more and more patients using cannabis. So there is more interest in learning about cannabis.

Cannabis will be an important part of the future of managing pain…

I think cannabis will be important in the future of managing pain. It’ll be one of the lifeline therapies to think about, certainly in palliative care. I think it can change the prospects of patients suffering with severe pain.