Many Medical Marijuana Patients Stop Using Opioids, Survey Finds

Paul Armentano | November 16, 2017 CHICAGO, IL — More than two out of three medical marijuana patients substitute cannabis in place of opioids, according to survey data compiled by Aclara Research, a Chicago-based consulting firm. Sixty-seven percent of respondents reported that they ceased their opioid use after initiating cannabis therapy. Twenty-nine percent of respondents said that cannabis allowed them to decrease their …

Medical Marijuana Patients More Likely to Stop Using Opioids vs Non-Participants

Paul Armentano | November 17, 2017 Chronic pain patients enrolled in a statewide medical cannabis access program are significantly more likely to either reduce or cease their use of opioids as compared to non-enrolled patients suffering from similar pain conditions, according to data published online in the journal PLOS One. A team of investigators at the University of New Mexico assessed opioid prescription …

University of New Mexico Study Finds MMJ Program Enrollees Decrease Opioid Use

A University of New Mexico study is the latest to suggest that cannabis could be a tool in the opioid epidemic. The study, which observed 37 habitual, opioid-using, chronic pain patients who chose to enroll in the state’s medical cannabis program, and 29 patients with similar conditions who chose not to enroll in the program, found a 47 percent reduction …

By Prohibiting MMJ Access, Lawmakers Complicit in Opioid Epidemic

The opioid overdoses death toll is staggering – reaching 64,070 in 2016 – and at least one estimate suggests opioids could kill a half-million Americans in the next decade. According to the Centers for Disease Control, deaths from “synthetic opioids excluding methadone” more than doubled from 9,945 in Jan. 2016 to 20,145 in Jan. 2017. So-called “natural and semi-synthetic opioids” …

Study: Opioid-Related Deaths Decrease after Colorado Legalization

According to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health, cannabis legalization in Colorado has led to a 6.5 percent decrease in opioid-related deaths, equaling .7 percent decrease in opioid deaths per month. “This reduction represents a reversal of the upward trend in opioid-related deaths in Colorado,” the authors wrote concluded in the study titled “Recreational Cannabis Legalization …

Another Study Finds MMJ Patients Replacing Prescription Meds with Cannabis

Yet another study suggests that cannabis could be useful as an exit drug from traditional medications, including opioids, although the research by DePaul University and Rush University researchers was based on a small sample size of 30 patients registered in Illinois’ medical cannabis program. However, the patients, who had a mean age of 44.6-years-old and suffered from cancer, chronic pain, …

Marijuana Dispensaries Can Lead to Decrease in Painkiller Abuse: Study

NORML | October 6, 2017 ATHENS, GA — Cannabis dispensaries are associated with reduced levels of opioid-related treatment admissions and overall drug mortality, according to a study published online on SSRN.com. A University of Georgia economics professor assessed the relationship between the opening of medical cannabis dispensaries and drug treatment admissions. Dispensary openings are associated with “a 20 percentage point relative decrease in …