Marijuana could help reduce opioid addiction, study says

Marijuana may be helpful to people struggling with opioid addiction and may reduce opioid-related deaths.

According to a study in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, prescriptions filled for opioids decrease by 2.11 million daily doses per year from an average of 23.08 million daily doses per year when a state adopted a medical cannabis law.

“This means that allowing the use of cannabis for medical purposes may encourage lower prescription opioid use and reduce the harm in the opioid crisis,” the study said.

It noted that the finding was “particularly strong” in states that permit marijuana dispensaries.

The study analysed daily doses of opioids from 2010 to 2015 under Medicare Part D, the optional prescription drug benefit plan that covers over 42 million Americans.

Opioid prescribing in the US has dramatically increased over the past 15 years, as physicians became more willing to use opioid medications to treat chronic and acute pain.

“Opioid-related mortality has accelerated coincidentally, from 14,910 deaths in 2005 to 33,091 in 2015,” the study said.

“Between 2000 to 2015, opioid-related mortality almost increased by a striking 320 percent.”

The study further strengthens arguments in favour of considering medical applications of cannabis as a policy tool to be used to diminish the harm of prescription opioid.