Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
As Arkansas moves closer to the Sept. 18 deadline for pot-growing greenhouses and retail dispensaries across the state, one of the key talking points driving acceptance of medical marijuana use is anecdotal stories that legalized cannabis is reducing opioid use and abuse.
In speaking in early August to the Arkansas Association of Counties (AAC), Rep. Doug House, R-North Little Rock, said he has talked with medical marijuana proponents in Colorado and other states who say legalized pot use has caused opioid drug overdoses to decline as much as 40%, but admitted those figures are hearsay.
"There are facts and figures out there, but there is not a real comprehensive study out there," said House, the chief architect of the state's medical pot legislation who did not publicly support the 2016 ballot issue to legalized the substance.
Rep. Justin Boyd, R-Fort Smith, and a pharmacist, also said recently his views are "changing slightly" on medical marijuana. Like House, Boyd did not support calls for the legalization of the substance, but said his own research into other markets has caused him to be hopeful — pointing to a 2014 Journal of the American Medical Association study that shows states with legalized marijuana had lower rates of fatal opioid overdose.
"But there is data that suggests that in Colorado opioids are abused less and part of the reason is because marijuana is readily available," Boyd said at Fort Police Department function earlier this summer. "Other places where medical marijuana is available, opioid use tends to be lowered. I don't know that we have causation, but to me that is one of the potential bright spots."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Opioids versus medical marijuana debate begins in Arkansas | KATV
Contact: Little Rock Contact | News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KATV
Photo Credit: Sinclair Broadcast Group
Website: Little Rock News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KATV
In speaking in early August to the Arkansas Association of Counties (AAC), Rep. Doug House, R-North Little Rock, said he has talked with medical marijuana proponents in Colorado and other states who say legalized pot use has caused opioid drug overdoses to decline as much as 40%, but admitted those figures are hearsay.
"There are facts and figures out there, but there is not a real comprehensive study out there," said House, the chief architect of the state's medical pot legislation who did not publicly support the 2016 ballot issue to legalized the substance.
Rep. Justin Boyd, R-Fort Smith, and a pharmacist, also said recently his views are "changing slightly" on medical marijuana. Like House, Boyd did not support calls for the legalization of the substance, but said his own research into other markets has caused him to be hopeful — pointing to a 2014 Journal of the American Medical Association study that shows states with legalized marijuana had lower rates of fatal opioid overdose.
"But there is data that suggests that in Colorado opioids are abused less and part of the reason is because marijuana is readily available," Boyd said at Fort Police Department function earlier this summer. "Other places where medical marijuana is available, opioid use tends to be lowered. I don't know that we have causation, but to me that is one of the potential bright spots."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Opioids versus medical marijuana debate begins in Arkansas | KATV
Contact: Little Rock Contact | News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KATV
Photo Credit: Sinclair Broadcast Group
Website: Little Rock News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KATV
