Broader Access To Medical Marijuana Reduces Abuse Of Addictive Painkillers

[Jacob Redmond]

Many medical marijuana patients report using marijuana to alleviate chronic pain from musculoskeletal problems and other sources. If marijuana is used as a substitute for powerful and addictive pain relievers in medical marijuana states, a potential overlooked positive impact of medical marijuana laws may be a reduction in harms associated with opioid pain relievers, a far more addictive and potentially deadly substance.

To assess this issue, a new paper studies the impact of medical marijuana laws on problematic opioid use. We use two measures of problematic use: treatment admissions for opioid pain reliever addiction from the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) and state-level opioid overdose deaths in the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS).

The paper concludes that states permitting medical marijuana dispensaries experience a relative decrease in both opioid addictions and opioid overdose deaths compared to states that do not.

The findings suggest that providing broader access to medical marijuana may have the potential benefit of reducing abuse of highly addictive painkillers.

News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Broader access to medical marijuana reduces abuse of addictive painkillers - Jonathan Kantrowitz
Author: Jonathan Kantrowitz
Contact: Contact Us - Connecticut Post
Photo Credit: Elaine Thompson
Website: Connecticut News - Executive Producer, Hearst Connecticut media Group

 

[Happy Hemper]

I use opioids to deal with pain from several serious injuries and I use cannabis when I can. I would prefer to have the option of only using cannabis but I live in a stupid state. As it stands now I can purchase good bud from the black market but I have no choice as to what the product is, sativa, indica or hybrid, without a choice nor variety it is hard to reliably treat myself.