Professor David Nutt to Explore the Future of Medical Cannabis Research at London Symposium

 

David Nutt, a Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London and founder of the charity Drug Science, has now been announced as a speaker at the event, leading an important session exploring the future of medical cannabis research.

 

Regulators and clinicians have repeatedly called for more high-quality evidence to be collected on these products before they can be prescribed more widely through the NHS. 

 

But Nutt argues that too much emphasis on randomised, placebo-controlled trial designs may be holding the research back.

Who is Professor David Nutt?

 

Training at Cambridge and Guy’s Hospital before completing psychiatry training and a DM at the MRC Clinical Pharmacology Unit in Oxford, Prof Nutt previously headed up the research ward at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Washington, before setting up the Psychopharmacology Unit at Bristol University in 1988, and later served as Professor of Psychiatry and Dean of Clinical Medicine, eventually moving to Imperial in 2008.

 

He is a former chair of the government’s ACMD, a position he was famously sacked from after publishing a landmark paper suggesting that alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than many illegal drugs, including LSD, ecstasy and cannabis. He went on to set up the leading UK charity Drug Science, and over the course of his career has now published 36 books and over 500 original research papers.

 

RCT vs RWE: is it time to look beyond the placebo-controlled trial?

 

For the last 50 years, randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have been considered the ‘gold standard’ when it comes to measuring the safety and efficacy of new drugs.

 

However, previous research by Nutt and others has highlighted some limitations of these studies, including the fact that they are time-intensive, often expensive to carry out, and have strict entry requirements for participants. 

 

There are additional barriers for researchers investigating cannabis-based medicines, Prof Nutt told Cannabis Health.

 

“The fact that CBPMs are Schedule 2 drugs and none are approved for psychiatric conditions, with the majority of products other than Sativex being unlicensed, means everything is done on a named patient basis, adding additional costs and time for those conducting these studies,” he explained.

 

Through its patient registry T21, Drug Science has collected real-world data on around 5,000 medical cannabis patients in the UK, linking the treatment to reduced symptoms and improvements in quality of life across a range of conditions, including anxiety, chronic pain and PTSD, as well as being linked to a ‘considerable reduction’ in the use of prescribed opioids among chronic pain patients. 

 

In a recent paper, Prof Nutt and colleagues argue that regulators should give greater weight to real-world data when determining whether medical cannabis treatments are safe and effective. 

 

He said: “There is still too much emphasis placed on old-fashioned and expensive placebo-controlled RCT designs, and too little recognition of patient-centred data.”

 

What to expect from the session

 

At the Cannabis Health Symposium in London on Thursday 26 November, Prof Nutt will discuss his own research in this area, exploring wider perspectives and new approaches to medical cannabis research, as he leads the debate over whether the scientific community should look beyond the double-blind placebo-controlled trial. 

 

What does he hope people will take away from his session? That’s simple: “CBMPs are safe, effective and under-used,” he adds. 

 

Secure your place

The Cannabis Health Symposium London will take place at Conway Hall on 26 November 2026. 

 

Find out more and book tickets here 

 

Concessions are available for healthcare professionals by application.