Stewart goes to pot to ease pain

Patrick Stewart has revealed his secret to treating arthritis: marijuana.

The 76-year-old actor of Star Trek and X-Men fame says he uses marijuana spray, ointment and edible cannabis to relieve pain caused by the autoinflammatory condition he has been struggling with for several years now. He decided to give the green treatment a shot after a doctor gave him a prescription for it.

Stewart — who recently reprised his role as Prof. Charles Xavier in the film Logan — made the admission while backing an initiative by Britain’s Oxford University that looks into the benefits of pot-based medicine.

“Two years ago, in Los Angeles, I was examined by a doctor and given a note which gave me legal permission to purchase, from a registered outlet, cannabis-based products, which I was advised might help the ortho-arthritis in both my hands,” Stewart said in a statement. “This, it would seem, is a genetically based condition. My mother had badly distorted and painful hands.”

Stewart said he uses the ointment before bed to help him sleep, and the spray on his finger joints several times a day. He says the products have “significantly reduced the stiffness and pain.”

He said he can now make fists, and he has “had no negative side-effects from this treatment and the alternative would have been to continue taking NSAID’s (Non-Steroidal AntiInflammatory Drugs), Advil, Aleve and Naproxen, which are known to be harsh on the liver and to cause acid reflux.”

He hopes the study will lead to the legalization of marijuana for medical usage in Britain: “I believe this program of research might result in benefits for people like myself as well as millions of others.”