Evidence supports doctors offering a trial of non-inhaled medicinal cannabis or cannabinoids for the treatment of chronic pain if standard care proves inadequate, according to new guidance.

Developed by a panel of international experts, including GPs, the ‘weak recommendation’ applies to all patients living with moderate to severe chronic pain, including cancer pain, neuropathic pain, nociceptive pain and nociplastic pain.

It is ‘weak’ because of the close balance between benefits and harms, the researchers say.

Conducted as part of The BMJ’s Rapid Recommendation series, designed to provide advice on potentially practice-changing evidence, the guidance was based on a systematic review that included two meta-analyses and 32 randomised trials.