Medical cannabis may reduce the need for pain relief in cancer patients, a study has found.

Researchers looked at 358 patients, all of whom were taking the drug because conventional painkillers did not fully work for them.

They reported a reduction of more than 40 per cent in how much pain affected their ability to go about daily life.

However, the study from McGill University in Montreal, published in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, did not compare those using medical cannabis to those taking conventional painkillers alone.

And the results may partly have been due to the ‘placebo effect’ – where people feel better because they expect a treatment to work.

Read the story at The Daily Mail