According to a recent survey, 81 percent of pain sufferers would prefer medicinal cannabis over opioids if given the option by their doctor, despite the opioid addiction and overdose pandemic that is sweeping America and killing an estimated 35,000 people yearly.
The study examined the data of 3,000 individuals, asking them about their cannabis use and how it affected their use of opioids.
Together with experts from the University of California, Berkeley, HelloMD, a sizable national community of medical cannabis patients, conducted the study. UC Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare lecturer and primary author Amanda Reiman, PhD, MSW, said:
“IN THE UNITED STATES, THE TREATMENT OF PAIN HAS TURNED POLITICIZED. The end result has been a sharp increase in the number of overdoses and addiction related to opioids. Cannabis has been used to treat pain and other physical and mental health conditions all over the world for thousands of years.
Reiman is not the only person to make claims about the connection between opiates and medical marijuana. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego examined hospitalization records from 1997 to 2014 in 27 states, nine of which had legalized medical cannabis during that time, according to a Cannatech report from June 28, 2017: “During that time, medical marijuana was legalized in nine states. They discovered that states with medical cannabis programs saw a 23 percent reduction in the hospitalization rates of those who abuse and get addicted to painkillers.
Even the most pen-happy of doctors would sit up and take notice after reading the following facts and numbers from her study’s conclusion:
97 percent “strongly agreed/agreed” that cannabis use could reduce one’s need for opioids.
92 percent of respondents “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that they would rather use cannabis to treat their illness.
81 percent “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that using cannabis alone outperformed combining it with opiates. When cannabis was used with painkillers without an opioid component, the outcomes were comparable.
It is imperative that action be taken to stop the appalling death toll brought on by opiate addiction and improper dose across America. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that 91 Americans die each day from opioid overdoses, accounting for more than 60% of all drug overdose deaths.
Dr. Perry Solomon, a researcher on the new study, discussed his findings with the media and said that cannabis is not a gateway drug and that it can treat opiate addiction: The National Academy of Sciences’ most recent paper “clearly debunked the ‘gateway drug’ idea that marijuana use might result in opioid addiction, finding evidence of cannabis having various therapeutic benefits instead,”
“Our study further substantiates this,” Dr. Solomon continued. The public, medical community, and legislators should become aware that cannabis is a safe, non-addictive product that may be used to combat the opioid epidemic as a result of this, hopefully.
The findings “show that smoked cannabis safely augments the analgesic effects of opioids,” according to the study’s authors. That being the case, and supported by multiple other research, fewer persons develop opiate addictions or overdoses in places where medical cannabis is authorized.
Sooner or later, patients and medical professionals will realize the dangers of opiate addiction and turn to medical marijuana as a more effective and safe alternative to manage chronic pain.
