A new study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neuroscience and Psychiatry has UK researchers reporting that an extract of pot's primary psychoactive compound – tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – provides muscle stiffness relief in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. 
 
Over 300 MS patients from 22 treatment centers across the UK were administered one daily dose of either THC or a placebo, with slightly less than 30 percent of patients actually using THC relating that muscle stiffness was alleviated after 12 weeks of using the medicine. Just under 16 percent of placebo users reporting the same results.
 
However, patients experienced varying degrees of pain relief even after four weeks of medicinal cannabis consumption. It should be noted that during those first three months of testing, only 47 percent of those patients being given cannabis were in fact administered a full dose, and that an increased dosage might yield more efficacious results when it comes to MS pain management.
 
According to reportage from Science Daily, nine out of every ten MS patients suffer from debilitating muscle stiffness at some point in their lives and that current methods of treatment and medication have proven ineffective in providing more comprehensive pain relief, thus providing the motivation for this study. The rate of side effects among participants (including nervous system disorders) diminished after the first two weeks of being medicated with THC.
 
Perhaps the most significant finding of this new research was that nearly 40 percent of MS patients not currently receiving any other kind of antispasmodic treatment reported pain relief from medical pot. 
 
More @ www.sciencedaily.com