Pain Relievers from Cannabis Are 30 Times Stronger Than Aspirin, New Research Finds

Researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada are the first to uncover the pain-relief potential of cannabis, demonstrating just how strong the plant could be. What makes this discovery so interesting is that by using cannabis plants as a means to reduce pain would mean natural pain relief medication, which in turn would reduce the addiction risks of other non-natural pain killers. 

The researchers, led by Professor Tariq Akhtar of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB), working alongside MCB professor Steven Rothstein who combined biochemistry and genomics. 

In doing so, the team discovered how cannabis creates two molecules: cannflavin A, and cannflavin B – also known as ‘flavonoids.’ Flavonoids are a type of plant secondary metabolites, a substance necessary for metabolism. 

When carefully observed, cannabis’ flavonoids gave anti-inflammatory benefits that were 30 times higher than the regular Aspirin we use over the counter.  Their full findings were recently published in the journal  Phytochemistry.