Cannabis Reduces Opioid Use!

New York state lawmakers have added opioid addiction to its list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis. Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell said, “We have an opioid crisis and people are dying and [medical cannabis] may be a path to keep people from dying and keep them from relapsing.”

Turns out there is a lot of scientific basis for this Assemblyman’s claim.

While comparing illicit drug use, “only cannabis use was significantly associated with lower odds of prescribed opioid analgesic use.” Hence, the researchers argued, “New medical cannabis legislation might reduce the need for opioid analgesics for pain management, which could help to address adverse events associated with opioid analgesic use.”

Another study in the Journal of Health Economics went so far as to say dispensaries literally save lives. The study, which received funding from the previously anti-cannabis National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), said, “The key feature of a medical marijuana law that facilitates a reduction in overdose death rates is a relatively liberal allowance for dispensaries.

As states have become more stringent in their regulation of dispensaries, the protective value generally has fallen. These findings suggest that broader access to medical marijuana facilitates substitution of marijuana for powerful and addictive opioids.”

Another study on cannabis and cancer in the European Journal of Internal Medicine suggested that cannabis can help prevent opioid abuse by decreasing the need to take the opioids. The study noted, “Cannabis as a palliative treatment for cancer patients seems to be well tolerated, effective and safe option to help patients cope with the malignancy-related symptoms.”

The lead researcher told Rolling Stone, “Cannabis is a very good alternative to reduce opioid consumption, to increase quality of life, and to reduce pain, nausea and vomiting.”

A Claremont McKenna College paper argued that cannabis legalization in Washington “prevented 638 [opioid] overdose deaths and led to over 3,600 individuals seeking treatment for opioid abuse disorders” in the state.

Massachusetts congressman Seth Moulton tweeted last month that “marijuana can be a lifesaving alternative to opioids.”