The use of medical marijuana (cannabis) is continually increasing and it is most commonly used for pain, anxiety and depression. New information suggests that use and abuse of prescription drugs is decreasing where marijuana laws have been enacted.
In this study, 2,774 individuals who reported using marijuana at least once in the previous 90 days, completed an anonymous survey. 46% of them (1,248) reported using marijuana as a substitute for prescription drugs.
The most common classes of drugs substituted were narcotics/opioids (35.8%), anxiolytics/benzodiazepines (13.6%) and antidepressants (12.7%).
Those who reported substituting marijuana for prescription drugs did so on average for 2 prescriptions. Perhaps future studies will demonstrate both cost savings and greater safety of natural marijuana over prescription synthetic medicine.
