Amid the nationwide opioid epidemic, some researchers and medical providers say greater use of marijuana for pain relief could lead to fewer people using and getting hooked on addictive prescription painkillers, reports The Pew Charitable Trusts.
The report cites a 2016 study by researchers at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore that found states that allow physicians to prescribe medical marijuana have had 25 percent fewer opioid overdose deaths than states that do not. Another study published in Health Affairs found that prescriptions for opioid painkillers paid for by Medicaid dropped significantly in states that have legalized medical marijuana.
An estimated 1.4 million patients across 28 states and Washington, D.C., use legal medical marijuana to remedy symptoms for various conditions. Some states, including Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire and New Jersey, do not include chronic pain as a condition for which medical marijuana can be prescribed out of fear the broadness of the category could lead to inappropriate use. However, advocates for greater use of medical marijuana say that adding chronic pain to the list of allowable conditions could lead to even greater reductions of opioid use.
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