Marijuana could be a valuable way of managing chronic pain without suffering the adverse side-effects of opioid-based medicinals, two local medical experts have said. 

Writing in university magazine Think, family doctor Andrew Agius and physiology and biochemistry lecturer Giuseppe Di Giovanni argue that while more studies are needed to determine ideal doses and delivery routes, marijuana's 5,000-year history as a pain management tool bodes well.

They note that patients currently have few effective ways of managing chronic pain, with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs only recommended for short-term use and more powerful drugs such as morphine and codeine having dangerous side-effects. 

"No [marijuana] patients have ever experienced any major adverse events," they write. "On the other hand, opioids, the current gold standard for painkillers, have resulted in overdoses; the contrast is stark and it is time to act."

While marijuana also had some side-effects, including drowsiness, dizziness, dry mouth and dysphoria, "administration of natural or synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists has shown therapeutic value for a number of important medical conditions including pain, anxiety, glaucoma, nausea, emesis, muscle spasms, epilepsy, and wasting diseases,” they say.

In the article, the two authors describe marijuana's two main ingredients - cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - and note that the cannabis plant contains several compounds, of which 60 were cannabinoids. Just 25 per cent of THC, the ingredient that causes marijuana's psychoactive effects, is absorbed when cannabis is smoked, the noted.

All major political parties contesting the upcoming general election have said that they are open to discussing the legalisation of marijuana, with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat calling for a "national discussion" about legalising the drug and Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil following suit, saying the PN wanted a discussion based on scientific research to map out a way forward.