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from the enraging-drug-comapnies-everywhere dept.
Researchers have found that states with legalized medical cannabis saw declines in Medicare prescriptions for drugs such as opioids and antidepressants:
Research published [DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2015.1661] Wednesday found that states that legalized medical marijuana — which is sometimes recommended for symptoms like chronic pain, anxiety or depression — saw declines in the number of Medicare prescriptions for drugs used to treat those conditions and a dip in spending by Medicare Part D, which covers the cost on prescription medications.
Because the prescriptions for drugs like opioid painkillers and antidepressants — and associated Medicare spending on those drugs — fell in states where marijuana could feasibly be used as a replacement, the researchers said it appears likely legalization led to a drop in prescriptions. That point, they said, is strengthened because prescriptions didn't drop for medicines such as blood-thinners, for which marijuana isn't an alternative.
The study, which appears in Health Affairs, examined data from Medicare Part D from 2010 to 2013. It is the first study to examine whether legalization of marijuana changes doctors' clinical practice and whether it could curb public health costs.
The findings add context to the debate as more lawmakers express interest in medical marijuana. This year, Ohio and Pennsylvania passed laws allowing the drug for therapeutic purposes, making it legal in 25 states, plus Washington, D.C. The approach could also come to a vote in Florida and Missouri this November. A federal agency is considering reclassifying medical marijuana under national drug policy to make it more readily available.
Medical marijuana saved Medicare about $165 million in 2013, the researchers concluded. They estimated that, if medical marijuana were available nationwide, Medicare Part D spending would have declined in the same year by about $470 million. That's about half a percent of the program's total expenditures.
Less prescription opioids? It seems a few pharmaceutical companies have a reason to fear legal cannabis (as long as they aren't in the business of selling it).
(Score: 1) by kurenai.tsubasa on Friday July 08 2016, @01:44AM
I've been thinking the same way. However, the upshot is that investors are smelling nice, green $$$. It's a bit of a double edged sword, but those green $$$s speak loudly. The NORML blag wrote about it a few times. Here's the most recent time it came up [norml.org].
The True Believers and the Investors
The industry appears to be comprised of two distinct groups of people: those who were active in the marijuana legalization movement for years, and understand the enormous damage done by prohibition; and who have migrated to the business side of the issue. And those who have no background or interest in legalization movement, but who have resources and see the new market simply as an opportunity to get rich. Obviously, it is the latter group that worries many of us, because of their sole focus on profits, and their lack of understanding of the long struggle that led to this point, and the millions of Americans who paid dearly for the right to grow or sell or smoke marijuana.
That doesn't really capture the sentiment, but there are echoes of it in the comments section. TheOracle criticizes Pennsylvania's medical law:
Yeah, about that excerpt, in Pennsylvania for a grower/processor the non refundable permit fee is $10,000, the permit fee is $200,000 and you have to have $2 million in cash reserves. Focus on grower/processor. Senator Folmer was on PCN and pharma companies that make the tinctures and the cannabis vaporizer cartridges are the only ones who are allowed to be growing legal cannabis it looks like. What the fuck! And it’s going to take how long to get the program running?
I think the recent hysteria over opioids is interesting. It's clear that somebody among TPTB realized that it's time to switch the vast majority of opioid cases over to cannabis. I'll be curious to see how much of the anti-cannabis fearmongering we'll probably see in the next however many years it takes for growing and consuming cannabis to become a constitutional right again actually is funded by big pharma.
It may be a lot less than either of us had thought at first. Lock-in to a limited number of growers seems to be what TPTB are going for.
From the rumblings I've heard, it seems that the alcohol and nicotine lobbies are more worried about cannabis than big pharma. However, big pharma has plenty to worry about once it no longer becomes viable to push their SSRI junk. I think it was on the old site that there was a very interesting comment outlining the efforts of big pharma to establish the disease model for depression in order to push SSRIs (which are highly addictive with physical withdrawal symptoms), but it'd probably take all night for me to find it.