A a new study is underway to investigate how medicinal cannabis can help relieve symptoms in children and adolescents with non-cancerous conditions, reports EurekAlert.

Palliative Care: Essential for people with serious illnesses.

The pilot study conducted in Australia Murdoch Children’s Research Institute was $75,000 granted by the State Government’s Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund (VMRAF). Medical marijuana company Cannatrek also supports the cause.

Research, led by Associate Professor Daryl Efron of Murdoch Children’s, will include 10 participants of the Victorian pediatric palliative care program aged six months to 21 years. Recruitment is expected to begin by the end of the year.

“The study will evaluate the study design, which includes recruitment strategy, drug tolerability, duration, and outcomes to determine acceptability and feasibility for the participating families and our research team,” said Efron said. “The data collected will then be used to design a comprehensive multi-center study.”

Medicinal cannabis: New hope for patients

Efron praised cannabis as a “new therapy with great hope” for those with a range of symptoms including pain, irritability, gastrointestinal distress, seizures, spasticity and dystonia. Despite the obvious benefits, doctors do not prescribe medical marijuana to children with these symptoms.

“In our experience, parents are interested in obtaining medicinal cannabis for their child’s symptoms, but doctors are reluctant to prescribe it due to a lack of quality research,” continued Efron. “There is an urgent need for clinical trials to properly assess the role of medicinal cannabis for use in these high-risk patients.”

Meanwhile, cannabinoids have been FDA-approved for various disorders in children since 2018.

dr Ann Marie Wonga pediatrician specializing in medical marijuana, said that she has seen in her work with children…