Cannabis Can Be 30x More Powerful Than Aspirin for Inflammation, Says New Study Eyeing Future Opioid Substitute

Medical marijuana is quickly being recognized as a viable alternative for pain relief—and now for the first time ever, researchers have uncovered exactly how the cannabis plant creates important pain-relieving molecules that are 30 times more powerful at reducing inflammation than Aspirin.

The discovery, which was made by researchers from the University of Guelph, unlocks the potential to create a naturally derived pain treatment that would offer potent relief without the risk of addiction of other painkillers.

“There’s clearly a need to develop alternatives for relief of acute and chronic pain that go beyond opioids,” said Professor Tariq Akhtar, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, who worked on the study with MCB professor Steven Rothstein. “These molecules are non-psychoactive and they target the inflammation at the source, making them ideal painkillers.”

Using a combination of biochemistry and genomics, the researchers were able to determine how cannabis makes two important molecules called cannflavin A and cannflavin B.
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