Trial shows no clear benefit from cannabis for patients with MS

doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7424.1128

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Owen Dyer

London

The three year CAMS (cannabis in multiple sclerosis) trial, involving more than 600 patients in the United Kingdom, has yielded no definitive verdict on whether the drug can ease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. The study, funded by the Medical Research Council, was published in last week's issue of the Lancet (2003;362: 1517-26).

Fifteen weeks' treatment with oral capsules containing either whole cannabis extract or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the drug's principal active ingredient, did not produce a significant improvement in spasticity as measured by the widely used Ashworth scale.

But in face to face interviews, patients assigned …