Opioid-related deaths decrease by 25 percent in states with medical marijuana program

This is AWESOME news. In my state, we had over 1K opioid related overdose deaths, in 2015. These painkillers are so available, and widely used here it is shocking.

The article mentions that patients have the alternative to choose cannabis over these highly addictive opioids.

I believe that we will see other states following suit. This could be a huge win,win for Dr. And patient perhaps even saving a life or two...... Applause! !!

Illinois recently launched its medical marijuana program, providing patients with the option to choose cannabis over addictive, expensive and sometimes deadly prescription drugs. But it’s not just Illinois that is reaping the medicinal benefits of marijuana. According to a study published in the prestigious journal JAMA Internal Medicine, states where medical cannabis is legal report fewer deaths associated with pharmaceutical drugs.(1,2)

The study compared the number of pharmaceutical-related deaths in 13 states where medical marijuana was legal before 2010 to states where medical marijuana remains illegal. The report discovered that states where medical marijuana is legal have a 25 percent lower rate of opioid-related deaths. In other words, there were approximately 1,729 fewer opioid-related deaths in 2010 in states where patients have access to medical marijuana.(2)

L I N K

Do you have a link to the source data?

I can only follow it back to an article that's dated over 2 years ago that talks about 2010.

Is this 25% still the case now?

a reply to: ReadLeader

Well yeah...

Marijuana treats addiction

Cannabis therapy has been used in addiction recovery for more than 100 years.

From “Marijuana in Medicine” by Tod H. Mikuriya M.D. (1969):

“Because cannabis did not lead to physical dependence, it was found to be superior to the opiates for a number of therapeutic purposes. Birch, in 1889, reported success in treating opiate and chloral addiction with cannabis, and Mattison in 1891 recommended its use to the young physician, comparing it favorably with the opiates.”

It would be nice if news like this wasn't so shocking since we've known that this would happen for at least 100 years. Why there is still even a discussion about descheduling this plant off the federal scheduling list is beyond me.


PS: OP no offense meant or anything to you. S&F, just voicing some frustrations to the world at large.

a reply to: MrMasterMinder

Look at the bottom of the OP. Look for "L I N K" in bold.

originally posted by: ReadLeader
a reply to: MrMasterMinder

Look at the bottom of the OP. Look for "L I N K" in bold.

No, the original source data. Not a link to another article that mentions it.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Krazy, No offense taken

as always, Thanks for posting and contributing!

First let me say that I am happy about all the information that is now coming out and made available about this awesome plant. Not to take away from that but we still have a long way to go and quite a few people need to join the dinosaurs before it will reach peek acceptance and use. We are fighting against baby boomers like my stepfather who is a retired military man and stubbornly obtuse on this issue. If I even try to challenge his beliefs and point out scientific evidence to the contrary of antiquated propaganda and outright lies he gets mad and says "I don't care". That is the problem these people simply do not care and refuse to let go of the BS they have hold onto for so long. It's as if they are afraid to let go and admit they were wrong. I asked my stepfather once how he would feel about it once I had gotten my prescription. would he deny me to have my medicine with me at the house? I said I would not smoke in the house as that would be rude but just having it on my person is an issue for him, actually he just ignored me when I asked. Just blatant stone faced ignored me. It' ridiculous the way these people hold on with such bitter negativity in the face of evidence of benefits.

a reply to: RainbowPhoenix

I was able to convince my parents to at least accept it. My dad never really cared and only sided with my mom, so once they divorced he could care less now. But even my mom has started to come around to it.

But even if that doesn't work, they have time working against them. Every subsequent generation of people supports marijuana legalization more than the previous one. Hell the Boomers started this trend. The surviving Greatest Generation had a MUCH bigger holdout against this plant.

This is not surprising at all.

The big bad drug 'H' is illegal but its properties are just about the best and strongest effective way to reduce pain in the brain - so its chopped and cut down into two variety's, theres the 10 or so real opioid's using the opium plant - the poppy and the synthetic opioid (basically the same type of chemical only manufactured and comes with higher side effects like seizures).

If you take half the population off these dangerous drugs and move them to a much safer alternative, cannabis in this case, that 50% simply dont have their hands on the addictive opiods to OD on in the first place.

As Howard Marks once said, "the chances of dieing as a direct result of consumption of cannabis is practically zero, the only way you might die from cannabis is if a huge block of it falls from a great height onto your head and crushes your head/spine etc".

This is a pure win for cannabis as a pain reliever and a lower class of drug the world over than the terrible opium in all its forms.

If you ban a class A drug, but then use it in medical practice, then why on earth wouldn't you use a class B drug instead if you can because it works? Oh hum.

a reply to: MrMasterMinder

archinte.jamanetwork.com...

a reply to: Krazysh0t

The beauty, these days, is that there are so many alternate methods of medicating one's self.


thanks for posting!

a reply to: Krazysh0t


I agree with you but this part right here

The surviving Greatest Generation had a MUCH bigger holdout against this plant.

I would say that yes as a whole they are more likely to be deadset against but as you pointed out its only the surviving members that make up that generation whereas percentage wise I would say the boomers are still a bigger part of the problem. No offense boomers I know not all you guys are stubborn on this but most I know are.

a reply to: RainbowPhoenix

Well yes, the problem currently resides among the Boomer generation, but only because they are the largest demographic still alive with the biggest opposition to legalizing it. If somehow, marijuana managed to remain illegal for another 20 years, we could then blame the gen xers for it. Again it's all time. I was just pointing out the trend of greater acceptance the newer the generation.

a reply to: ReadLeader

Very interesting, and not surprising! It's nice to see more and more information building up about the good it can do. For years, medical marijuana was only mentioned with the "medical" in quotes - as if it was only a cover for folks who wanted it legalized so that they could enjoy the fun aspects of the plant. I always thought - hey, if that's what it takes to un-do stupid regressive control laws, whatever works is good with me! I never would have guessed how EXTREMELY useful it could be from a HEALTH perspective - I'll say "health" in place of "medical" because I believe it goes much further than typical "medicine" towards many aspects of health.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Beats the hell outta the N E W millianial-X'ers, dam kids!!!

Second teen dies after drinking racing fuel mixed with soda

www.tennessean.com...

a reply to: ReadLeader

Racing fuel mixed with soda? LOL WHAT? I think someone is taking those mountain dew commercials a bit too seriously... o.O

Yeah well a lot of people just aren't trying, and act like teens. In the medical shopping for this you can get all kinds of varieties and you can ingest it directly/in food, it doesn't have to be smoked and it doesn't have to get you high. In fact a couple of the most powerful pain-killing variants don't. So when people insist on "getting high" and get upset that someone they live with is against it, I think they're just being immature about it.

I believe in that case the kid is a Gen Y'er

a reply to: ReadLeader

originally posted by: ReadLeader
a reply to: MrMasterMinder

archinte.jamanetwork.com...

Thanks.



The data set being recorded on is between 1999-2010 but it doesn't show the stats before this date. So it doesnt show a 'decrease' just that in these states the mortality rate on Opioid's were lower during a certain time period. To show a decrease we would have to see what the figures were before each of the states started to use medical marijuana. Also as not all the states legalized the use of MJ at the same time the data really needs to be split up into individual graphs and not lumped together.

I wonder what age adjusted means?

It seems at some points during the data set the percentage actually INCREASES in states with legalized MJ at the exact time that it decreases in states without legalized MJ! The lines on the graphs seem to peak and trough at exactly the same time??

As we all know correlation does not imply causation and the graph presented makes it impossible to try to understand whats going on. Id love to see the figures after this date as well seeing as its 6 years old.