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Title    Two More Studies Link Access to Cannabis to Lower Use of Opioids
Date    Tuesday April 03 2018, @08:24PM
Author    fyngyrz
Topic   
from the let's-be-blunt-here dept.
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/04/03/1810200

takyon writes:

Marijuana legalization could help offset opioid epidemic, studies find

Experts have proposed using medical marijuana to help Americans struggling with opioid addiction. Now, two studies suggest that there is merit to that strategy.

The studies, published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine [open, DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.0266] [DX], compared opioid prescription patterns in states that have enacted medical cannabis laws with those that have not. One of the studies looked at opioid prescriptions covered by Medicare Part D between 2010 and 2015, while the other looked at opioid prescriptions covered by Medicaid between 2011 and 2016.

The researchers found that states that allow the use of cannabis for medical purposes had 2.21 million fewer daily doses of opioids prescribed per year under Medicare Part D, compared with those states without medical cannabis laws. Opioid prescriptions under Medicaid also dropped by 5.88% in states with medical cannabis laws compared with states without such laws, according to the studies.

"This study adds one more brick in the wall in the argument that cannabis clearly has medical applications," said David Bradford, professor of public administration and policy at the University of Georgia and a lead author of the Medicare study. "And for pain patients in particular, our work adds to the argument that cannabis can be effective."

Also at the Washington Post.

Association of Medical and Adult-Use Marijuana Laws With Opioid Prescribing for Medicaid Enrollees (open, DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.1007) (DX)

Previously:
Study: Legal Weed Far Better Than Drug War at Stopping Opioid Overdose Epidemic
Opioid Commission Drops the Ball, Demonizes Cannabis


Original Submission

Links

  1. "takyon" - https://soylentnews.org/~takyon/
  2. "Marijuana legalization could help offset opioid epidemic, studies find" - https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/02/health/medical-cannabis-law-opioid-prescription-study/index.html
  3. "JAMA Internal Medicine" - http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.0266
  4. "DX" - https://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.0266
  5. "David Bradford" - http://spia.uga.edu/faculty-member/w-david-bradford/
  6. "Washington Post" - https://web.archive.org/web/20180402221855/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/04/02/two-new-studies-show-how-marijuana-can-help-fight-the-opioid-epidemic//
  7. "Association of Medical and Adult-Use Marijuana Laws With Opioid Prescribing for Medicaid Enrollees" - https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2677000
  8. "DX" - https://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.1007
  9. "Study: Legal Weed Far Better Than Drug War at Stopping Opioid Overdose Epidemic" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/03/17/0615203
  10. "Opioid Commission Drops the Ball, Demonizes Cannabis" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/11/16/013234
  11. "Original Submission" - https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=25740

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