news of the weed

cannabis blog news of the weed moves home

2009-12-04T05:47:00.003+00:00

This blog has moved to improved (we hope) premises at www.newsoftheweed.com

5 million facebook petition for Obama to legalize weed

2009-10-07T00:35:00.011+00:00

A Facebook group organised by the US campaigning organisation NORMAL is aiming to get 5 million members to pressure Obama to legalise marijuana. They say:

"OBAMA was originally for the decriminalization of marijuana but, soon after talking to his advisers he changed his position. We hope Obama will stand for what he first said and probably believes in himself".

They suggest that President Obama should instead take the advice of ex President Jimmy Carter; "Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself."

• Obama on marijuana: "I inhaled ... frequently."

death penalty for pot

2009-10-06T23:46:00.007+00:00

This video features the intrepid duo, Dana Beal (recently busted with 150lbs of medical marijuana) and arch 'Pieman' Aron Kay, up against the forces of evil. Music by Benedict Arnold & The Traitors.

• Dana Beal's address is currently Irvin Beal #6669, Saunders County Jail, 387 North Chestnut Wahoo, Nebraska 68066, USA. A court hearing will be held on 12 November.

leading marijuana campaigner dana beal arrested

2009-10-04T21:33:00.032+00:00

Is it just coincidence that within the space of just two days, two of the leading organisers of the annual Global Marijuana March, first Marc Emery (28th Oct) and then (30th Oct) Dana Beal (above, photo New York Times) have been arrested and are now both behind bars, at the mercy of the cruel American 'justice' system?

The extradition of Marc Emery to the American Gulag had been expected despite a majority of Canadians being against it and a long campaign, but Dana Deal's arrest in Nebraska, allegedly in possession of 150 lbs of marijuana, is a double wammie for the global movement against marijuana prohibition.

Dana Beal is founder and main coordinator of the annual 'Global Marijuana March' which this year held simultaneous marches in nearly 200 cities worldwide, campaigning for medical marijuana and an end to marijuana prohibition. He has also devoted his considerable energies towards developing anti addiction treatments, particularly using the natural drug Ibogaine.

Now Marc Emery and Dana Beal are two more victims of the drug war they have campaigned so hard to end. They are not criminals, they are political prisoners.

• Dana and two others have been charged with "possession with the intent to deliver and having no drug tax stamp." Possession of marijuana for personal use has been decriminalised under Nebraska State laws, but they still allow draconian penalties for the sale and distribution of the popular herb.

• A Free Dana Beal Facebook site and a Free Dana Beal Blog have been started to support Dana and raise funds for his defence.

LATEST: (via kind friends stashblog): Dana Beal is in the Saunders County Jail, write him at Irvin Beal #6669, Saunders County Jail, 387 North Chestnut, Wahoo, Nebraska 68066. He needs 50k for bailman. First court date is Nov 10th. Dana is in a dorm with 18 other “drug offenders".

marc emery farewell press conference

2009-10-04T21:30:00.003+00:00

get ready to be itemised

2009-03-06T12:48:00.001+00:00

Above: the Itemiser by GE Security Products (click image to enlarge).

All over Britain people are being 'itemised' by a new machine called the Itemiser which is being used by the police to test for drugs and explosives.

More than 400 people were 'Itemised' in one night by police in Reading recently.

The Itemiser is a desktop testing lab which can detect traces of all kinds of drugs and explosives in 7 seconds - and make life hell for the innocent recreational or medical cannabis user.

Designed to be highly portable it can run for 60 mins on rechargable batteries and can easly be set up at stations, airports, or outside cool clubs, major city financial institutions, weddings, funerals and at events like Ascot and the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.

Unless you play it safe and never go out ever again it is fairly likely that you will encounter this desk top civil liberties zapper sooner rather than later.

• GE Security Products should re format the Itemiser so it ignores cannabis and just looks for explosives, guns, knives and the stench of corruption.

cannabis prohibition - it's so stupid and boring

2009-03-04T10:02:00.001+00:00

"Why don't they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on Earth."

Will Rogers

US ends DEA medical marijuana raids

2009-03-02T18:48:00.017+00:00

Medical marijuana advocates and users confront Los Angeles police [above] during a Drug Enforcement Administration raid of a medical marijuana dispensary on July 25, 2007.

Years of campaigning, thousands of busts, lives ruined, and untold needless pain may be coming to a close in the US as it seems that the strange medical and legal taboo against medical cannabis may finally be over.

The new attorney general Eric Holder, has announced that the DEA is being ordered to stop raiding state approved medical marijuana dispensaries.

President Obama, who has admitted he was a regular teenage marijuana toker, said during the presidential campaign that he supported the controlled use of marijuana for medical purposes, saying he saw no difference between medical marijuana and other pain-control drugs.

“My attitude is if the science and the doctors suggest that the best palliative care and the way to relieve pain and suffering is medical marijuana, then that’s something I’m open to,” Obama said in November 2007 at a campaign stop in Audubon, Iowa. “There’s no difference between that and morphine when it comes to just giving people relief from pain.”

• This is a dramatic, although not unexpected turn about for Federal government policy. So dramatic that the official White House web site for drug policy has not yet been up dated. The Bush era Drug War propaganda which denied the medical value of cannabis is still there. Thankfully it is now just historical evidence of past ignorance and bigotry.

kelloggs shares crash as cannabis users 'k flakes' boycott continues

2009-03-02T10:18:00.008+00:00

Kelloggs share price has crashed ever since they sacked Michael Phelps for toking on a bong, and were immediately hit with a boycott by cannabis users worldwide.

The 'cannaphobic' decision by Kelloggs to sack Michael Phelps has proved to be a well deserved disaster bong.

According to The Vanno Reputation Index, which monitors the public image of leading corporations, out of the 5,600 company reputations Vanno monitors, Kellogg ranked ninth before it rudely snubbed Phelps. Now it's ranked 83.

Of course Kellogg's share price drop may not just be due to the cannabis boycott, but the main stream bad publicity for Kelloggs it has generated has certainly added to Kellogg's general credibility crunch crisis.

Kelloggs need to realise that indulging in Reefer Madness is bad for business, and it is just not healthy for the individual or society, but they can join a treatment program.

• More at stopthedrugwar.org

california considers $50 an oz tax on marijuana

2009-02-25T04:52:00.014+00:00

Above: one of this months 'cream of the crop' weed porn photo competition contenders at uk420 [click on photo for larger image].

California would legalize marijuana for recreational use and charge a $50 per oz sales tax under a bill introduced on Monday.

As California teeters on the verge of bankruptcy, the 'pot tax' bill has the public backing of Betty Yee, who chairs the state Board of Equalization, which collects taxes in California. The state would collect an estimated $1.3 billion a year from tax revenues and a $50-an-ounce levy on retail sales if marijuana were legal.

The proposal would sensibly regulate marijuana like alcohol, with people over 21 years old allowed to grow, buy, sell and possess cannabis - all of which is stupidly barred by federal law.

The proposal also has the support of San Francisco's top cop Sheriff Michael Hennessey, but some pot smokers are saying a tax of $50 an oz is too high.

• Reuters - taxing drugs could help US pay for bail outs

kellogg's 'crack' flakes banned worldwide for michael phelps pot bong sponsorship snub

2009-02-11T21:13:00.018+00:00

Kellogg's Corn Flakes, which irresponsibly uses the word 'CRACK' in it's advertising, has been officially banned by the worldwide cannabis movement, a powerful global network with weed connections in every part of the planet and supporters from every cast, creed and class of humanity.

Cannabis users from every part of the globe are outraged that Kellogg's Crack Flakes has stopped their sponsorship of swimming hero Michael Phelps after he was pictured proving how good his lungs are with a bong of weed.

The ban on all Kellogg's products worldwide starts immediately, and is for grievous insults to the marijuana/cannabis plant and marijuana/cannabis users, plus actions likely to confuse, misinform and frighten young people.

Many young people enjoy both swimming and toking on bongs and see Michael Phelps as a great role model, and he is. Kellogg's on the other hand has shamelessly exploited and targeted young people for years. They ruthlessly market their 'crack' junkie food mix of sugar and bits of over cooked corn, cut with preservatives and other chemicals which may cause testicular cancer. Kellogg's adverts groom young people for a life time addiction to sugar and junk food. Michael Phelps is well out of there.

Kellogg's, who's global market for 'crack' flakes is tiny in comparison to the multi national cannabis industry is now facing a massive backlash as millions of people all over the world say "SNAP" and boycott Kellogg's forever. Hemp flakes and muesli is so much better for your health.

• free the phelps 8 - further outrage has been caused by the arrest of 8 people and a bong by american police who say the accused may have shared the same bong as phelps. One of the arrested had tried to sell the famous bong on ebay for 100,000 dollars, on hearing of this the local police 'bong squad' mounted a raid and are now proud owners of the historic and valuable item, claiming 'finders keepers' rights.

reefer madness to hit britain

2009-02-11T14:46:00.010+00:00

Reefer Madness - the musical - is opening at a West End theater in London on March 24th after sell out runs in LA and 'off-Broadway' in New York.

The musical attempts to blow away the global cannabis policy credibility crunch with music and song as part of an amusing theatrical satire on the classic anti marijuana film 'Reefer Madness' which set a benchmark for being hysterical about marijuana, spreading dangerous miss information, and being utterly racist, all at the same time.

• Reefer Madness sanity talk - On Sat March 28th the 2.30pm matinee performance of Reefer Madness at the Bridewell Theatre, Fleet Street will be followed at 4pm by a free post-show discussion and Q&A with Ben Goldacre, Mike Jay and Steve Rolles on "The Demon Weed! The Past and Present of Cannabis Propaganda". Tickets are £12 Standard for unreserved seating, or you can even get a £20 Reefer Addict Sponsorship Ticket.

obama backs medical marijuana

2009-02-11T14:22:00.001+00:00

Repeating a promise made during the presidential campaign, the Obama administration yesterday vowed to stop the federal government from interfering in states with medical marijuana laws as soon as they can appoint a new head of the DEA.

"The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro told reporters.

Obama promised a hands-off policy on medical marijuana during his campaign, but since he took office the DEA, led by Bush appointed Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart, has nonetheless raided at least three medical marijuana dispensaries in California, each time seizing money and medicine, but making no arrests.

The administration's renewed commitment to respecting states with medical marijuana laws follows thousands of phone calls to the White House, plus a flood of comments on change.gov, all calling for the President to make good on his campaign promise. Americans for Safe Access, the nation's largest medical cannabis advocacy organization, greeted the statement with strong approval.

"Americans for Safe Access acknowledges President Obama's continued pledge to end federal interference with state medical marijuana laws," commented Caren Woodson, Director of Government Affairs. "We look forward to working with the President and his Administration to enact long-term policies that support safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research."

Meanwhile, Sarah Pullen, a DEA spokeswoman refused to offer any explanation for the raids. "I can't get into details as to the probable cause behind the warrants," she said. "Except for the fact that they're dealing with marijuana, which is illegal under federal law."

Perhaps the DEA dead enders were trying to throw down a challenge to the incoming President, lest he get any ideas about actually reforming our disastrous war on drugs. Or perhaps it was just an easy payday.

An employee of Beach Center Collective in Playa del Rey told the Los Angeles Times that DEA officers confiscated so much property that the dispensary would not be able to reopen.

"They took everything," said the 32-year-old employee, who asked not to be named. "You name it, they took it - right down to the television. The computer, patient files, medicine, cash in the register - that's it, we're done. It's just too bad. [Our patients] have epilepsy, cancer, MS, diabetes - two of our patients have one leg. They're gonna have to travel a lot farther and go to places that aren't as safe for them."

• COOL COP DRUG TZAR - Apparently Obama is planning to appoint Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske as the next US 'Drugs Tsar'. Kerlikowske has a good reputation for being sensible and rational about drug policy and believes that arresting people for personal possession is a waste of national resources. Reacting to the news of the likely appointment, Joanna McKee, co-founder and director of Green Cross Patient Co-Op, a medical-marijuana patient-advocacy group said "What a blessing — the karma gods are smiling on the whole country, man.

class b baloney bodge job

2009-01-25T23:35:00.004+00:00

There's a lot of bad dope on cannabis going round at the moment, enough to make any decent cannabis user suffer from paranoia.

The worst strain of bad stuff is of course the government's decision to make their cannabis policy 'Class B' for baloney. This comes into effect tomorrow [Jan 26th] and has cannabis users freaking out to the point that some of them can even be bothered to organise a protest, even if it is only a few days late, on Weds January 28th, which is actually perfect timing for Prime Minister's Baloney Time.

In fact cannabis users, and their natural allies in the police force, can relax and chill, because Class B for cannabis really, really is baloney. This is because, on January 26, in an amazing coincidence worthy of the Fortiean Times, cannabis possession will be made Class B .... and put on a special 'PND' list of minor offences which are exempted from court prosecution, to the horror of the Daily Telegraph and the Magistrates Association.

Under these rules a first offence attracts a warning, a second offence gets a fine of 80 pounds. Even better is the fact that first offence warnings will not be registered on the police computer, so it will be difficult if not impossible for anyone to be fined for a second offence. This is really good news, especially for tax payers. When cannabis was previously Class B there were about 100,000 prosecutions a year, costing about 10,000 pounds each according to Hansard; that's a cool one billion a year blown on cannabis baloney. But now, with their Class B for baloney policy, the government can look really stupid about cannabis, and talk a load of 'class b' baloney about cannabis, all without it costing anything.

There is just one problem. The government's cannabis prohibition policies cost a fortune in lost tax revenues thanks to Inland Revenue rules which allow several million people to use cannabis tax free paying no VAT what so ever, while traders do not have to pay tax on any of their cannabis profits.

By giving cannabis tax free status that is even better than given for aviation fuel, Gordon Brown is in fact subsidising the cannabis industry at vast public expense in an invisible bailout costing several billion a year in lost tax revenue. This is why Cannabis Prohibition is still the most expensive and stupid mistake in British legal history. It really is baloney.

• How to avoid prosecution for cannabis possession - carry your cannabis in a bag or envelope clearly marked "For The Police". If stopped by the police say you found the cannabis and put it in the envelope in order to hand it in to the nearest police station. This makes a successful prosecution for cannabis possession almost impossible, or at least of some entertainment value.

• 'the government's drug policy, is it working' was an interesting house of lords debate last week.

• massive cannabis civil disobedience campaign

New Advances for Medical Marijuana

2007-07-05T13:43:00.000+00:00

Source: Boston Globe Date: July 3 2007
Author: Lester Grinspoon MD

Marijuana Gains Wonder Drug Status

A new study in the journal Neurology is being hailed as unassailable proof that marijuana is a valuable medicine. It is a sad commentary on the state of modern medicine -- and US drug policy -- that we still need "proof" of something that medicine has known for 5,000 years.

The study, from the University of California at San Francisco, found smoked marijuana to be effective at relieving the extreme pain of a debilitating condition known as peripheral neuropathy. It was a study of HIV patients, but a similar type of pain caused by damage to nerves afflicts people with many other illnesses including diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Neuropathic pain is notoriously resistant to treatment with conventional pain drugs. Even powerful and addictive narcotics like morphine and OxyContin often provide little relief. This study leaves no doubt that marijuana can safely ease this type of pain.

As all marijuana research in the United States must be, the new study was conducted with government-supplied marijuana of notoriously poor quality. So it probably underestimated the potential benefit.

This is all good news, but it should not be news at all. In the 40-odd years I have been studying the medicinal uses of marijuana, I have learned that the recorded history of this medicine goes back to ancient times and that in the 19th century it became a well-established Western medicine whose versatility and safety were unquestioned. From 1840 to 1900, American and European medical journals published over 100 papers on the therapeutic uses of marijuana, also known as cannabis.

Of course, our knowledge has advanced greatly over the years. Scientists have identified over 60 unique constituents in marijuana, called cannabinoids, and we have learned much about how they work. We have also learned that our own bodies produce similar chemicals, called endocannabinoids.

The mountain of accumulated anecdotal evidence that pointed the way to the present and other clinical studies also strongly suggests there are a number of other devastating disorders and symptoms for which marijuana has been used for centuries; they deserve the same kind of careful, methodologically sound research. While few such studies have so far been completed, all have lent weight to what medicine already knew but had largely forgotten or ignored: Marijuana is effective at relieving nausea and vomiting, spasticity, appetite loss, certain types of pain, and
other debilitating symptoms. And it is extraordinarily safe -- safer than most medicines prescribed every day. If marijuana were a new discovery rather than a well-known substance carrying cultural and political baggage, it would be hailed as a wonder drug.

The pharmaceutical industry is scrambling to isolate cannabinoids and synthesize analogs, and to package them in non-smokable forms. In time, companies will almost certainly come up with products and delivery systems that are more useful and less expensive than herbal marijuana. However, the analogs they have produced so far are more expensive than herbal marijuana, and none has shown any improvement over the plant nature gave us to take orally or to smoke.

We live in an antismoking environment. But as a method of delivering certain medicinal compounds, smoking marijuana has some real advantages: The effect is almost instantaneous, allowing the patient, who after all is the best judge, to fine-tune his or her dose to get the needed relief without intoxication. Smoked marijuana has never been demonstrated to have serious pulmonary consequences, but in any case the technology to inhale these cannabinoids without smoking marijuana already exists as vaporizers that allow for smoke-free inhalation.

Hopefully the UCSF study will add to the pressure on the US government to rethink its irrational ban on the medicinal use of marijuana -- and its destructive attacks on patients and caregivers in states that have chosen to allow such use. Rather than admit they have been mistaken all these years, federal officials can cite "important new data" and start revamping outdated and destructive policies. The new Congress could go far in establishing its bona fides as both reasonable and compassionate by immediately moving on this issue.

Such legislation would bring much-needed relief to millions of Americans suffering from cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and other debilitating illnesses.

Lester Grinspoon, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is the coauthor of "Marijuana, the Forbidden Medicine." © 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.

uk hemp expo 2007 is on this weekend (5,6,7th May)

2007-05-04T12:44:00.001+00:00

HEMP EXPO 2007: 5,6,7th MAY, Telford International Centre (10am-6pm).

Please note: there is no cannabis march or festival planned for this year in london but there are protests against cannabis prohibition, including marches and other events, going on in over 200 cities worldwide as part of the Global Marijuana March

More at: schmoo on the run

Hemp & Hydro Expo 2006 cancelled

2006-07-07T09:23:00.000+00:00

schmoo has just heard that the massive 'Hemp Expo 2006' organised by the cannabis magazine 'Weed World' at the newly opened Ricoh Arena in Coventry, has been banned by the local council.

more at schmoo on the run

medical cannabis: MP's and Lords join with patients campaigners and experts

2006-05-25T12:08:00.000+00:00

Medical cannabis patients, campaigners, and experts plus two MPs went to 10 Downing street to demand urgent action on Medical Cannabis. Later they met with other MP's, plus Lords and supporters at a packed meeting in the Houses of Parliament.

Above: Medical cannabis campaigners including Labour MP's Paul Flynn and Brian Iddon (Chairman of the 'All Party Parliamentary Drugs Misuse Group') take the issue to 10 Downing Street.

Above: Anita Curzon who suffers from Fibro Myalgia outside 10 Downing Street to deliver a petition to Tony Blair calling for action on medical cannabis. At the meeting in Parliament afterwards she said: "After using pharmaceutical drugs and having the horrific side effects that come along with them, it actually makes me very, very angry that I have to be made a criminal for using what is a natural based drug, which does not have nearly the side effects that pharmaceutical drugs have."

Above: The event was organised by the Cannabis Education Trust because of 'intermiable' delays and 'foot dragging' by the government despite election promices.

At meeting in Parliament Lord Rhy, who was closely involved in writing the ground breaking 'House of Lords Report on Medical Cannabis'. He said that the government had been "sitting on it for a very long time. It is taking an intermiable time for the license to be given to Sativex, which is the best product on the market at the moment. There is a very deep counter campaign going on (against medical cannabis). We want to know who is it that is influencing the decision making that is holding this thing up."

more soon

we need the NHS: natural healing service

2006-05-23T23:54:00.000+00:00

Above and below: We need the NHS - the Natural Healing Service. Today campaigners will be going to Downing Street and Parliament Square to call for medical cannabis to be supplied free by the NHS to treat pain, MS and many other ailments. They also want specialist 'cannabis clinics' run by experts to be set up, and the end to all prosecutions for the private use of medical cannabis.

Campaigners say these policies could save the NHS millions, if not billions of tax payers cash which currently goes into the pockets of big pharmaceutical 'drug dealers' for drugs that often do not work as well as cannabis.

Petition to Downing Street - Wednesday 24th May 2006

To raise awareness of the issues and injustices that face medical cannabis users, would-be users, growers and those who supply sick and disabled people.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To the Prime Minister, Right Hon Tony Blair,

We respectfully request that you consider the following questions:

1. Who benefits from the prosecution of medical cannabis users?

2. Who benefits from medicinal cannabis prohibition?

We also invite you to consider the following issues:

• The fact that Sativex (mouth spray) is still virtually unobtainable for UK patients.

• The relative real costs of each form of medicinal cannabis, and the potential savings to the National Health Service budget if 'herbal' medical cannabis was allowed, as well as the more expensive pharmaceutical preperations.

• The effectiveness of natural 'organic' cannabis tinctures, and hemp-based creams, along with vaporised, smoked or ingested herbal cannabis.

What is really in the best public interest?

1. Recognition of the unique medicinal benefits of the cannabis plant in pharmaceutical and 'organic' herbal preperations.

2. The establishment of medical 'cannabis clinics' run by experts.

3. An end to the prosecution of medical cannabis users, growers and those who supply sick and disabled people in the UK.

4. Further and broader medicinal cannabis research.

5. The establishment of a Committee of those with expertise in this field to examine the above issues with urgency.

6. A programme of honest education about the real issues surrounding medical cannabis.

Best wishes, from members of the CANNABIS EDUCATION TRUST

www.cannabistrust.com

medical cannabis: winston churchill used it, why can't everyone else?

2006-05-23T20:11:00.000+00:00

Above: Winston Churchill in London yesterday. Tomorrow campaigners will be going to No 10 Downing Street to take to deliver a letter asking his predecessor Tony Blair to pull his finger out and make medical cannabis available on the national health, like he promised he would if the research was positive - and it is!

cannabis: queen victoria's healer, why not everyone elses?

2006-05-23T19:36:00.000+00:00

'Medical Cannabis Awareness Day' is tomorrow (24 May) in London @ Parliament Square: time table.

cannabis grandma for number 10 downing st, May 24th

2006-05-19T21:59:00.000+00:00

Above: Cannabis Grandma, Pat Tabram says the biggest dangerous drug dealers in Britain are the pharmaceutical companies. She says they are the real rats. She will be leading a delegation of medical cannabis users and experts to No 10 Downing Street on Weds 24th May, to give Tony Blair a good ticking off. He still has not kept his promises on medical cannabis.

There will also be a 'Medical Cannabis Awareness Day' demonstration all day in Parliament Sq, and a lobby of MP's.

thc4ms will be at parliament 24 may: sign their petition

2006-05-19T20:30:00.000+00:00

One of the groups supporting the Medical Cannabis Day of Action are THC4MS who have been making and supplying medical cannabis chocolate to MS suffers for years but now face prosecution.

If you have not already done it: sign their petition.

McCartney split: previous wife Linda used medical cannabis, current 'ex' says 'I hate it'

2006-05-18T12:25:00.000+00:00

Heather Mills, Paul McCartney's ex, demanded that he quit smoking cannabis before she would marry him. She said choose between me or the spliffs.

'Him and (his first wife) Linda smoked it every day for the whole of their lives together,' she said of a relationship that lasted more than 30 years. 'But I would not get married to him if he was taking drugs. I hate it.'

What Heather did not mention of course is that Linda McCartney who died of cancer, benefited greatly from using the drug medically to off set the effects of chemo therapy.

Much more gratuitous gossip at 'schmoo on the run'

cannabis: effective pain relief after major surgery says new study

2006-05-17T17:04:00.000+00:00

Scientists at Londons Imperial College have just announced research that shows cannabis gives effective pain relief after major surgery, such as knee operations, "with minimal side effects, at low doses."

Dr Anita Holdcroft, from Imperial College, the lead researcher said: "Pain after surgery continues to be a problem because many of the commonly used drugs are either ineffective or have too many side effects. These results show that cannabinoids are effective, and may lead to the development of a wider range of drugs to manage postoperative pain."

Previous research has shown that cannabinoids help top up the bodys natural system for reducing pain sensation.

The researchers used a cannabis extract called 'Cannador' which is taken orally. 'Cannador' was developed by a non-profit group, the 'Institute for Clinical Research' in Berlin, Germany.