In a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine, researchers wished to find out what relationship there might be between states which had passed medical cannabis (marijuana) laws, and the amount of opioids prescribed under Medicare Part D. Why? Because from 2000 to 2015, opioid related mortality rose nearly 320%.
In order to determine this they analyzed Medicare Part D opioid prescriptions from 2010-2015 for all states and found that a state with any kind of medical marijuana law had fewer opioid prescriptions filled.
In states where patients were only allowed to grow their own cannabis, there were an average of 1.7 million fewer daily doses of opioids filled per year, while in the states which had active dispensaries there was an astounding 3.7 million fewer daily doses of opioids filled per year.
In other terms, states with active dispensaries showed a 17% decrease in hydrocodone doses, and a 20% decrease in morphine doses.
This study concludes that medical cannabis laws are associated with significant reductions in the prescribing of opioid medications and can assist in reducing the harm associated with the opioid epidemic.
