States with Legal Marijuana Programs Had Lower Rates of Opioid Use

To no one’s surprise, a new study has been published by the International Journal of Drug Policy, which found that states with legal marijuana programs had lower rates of opioid use.

Unlike most previous studies on marijuana legalization’s effects on a state’s opioid use, which were primarily produced by health agencies or medical researchers, this one originated from the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida International University. 

Medical cannabis laws, the lead researcher  stated, “may be effective at reducing opioid reliance as survey respondents living in states with medical cannabis legislation are much less apt to report using opioid analgesics than people living in states without such laws, net other factors.”

 The real eye-opener of the study, “results further indicate that the presence of medicinal cannabis legislation appears not to influence opioid misuse,” they concluded.  

In laments term, there is zero epidemiological or criminological proof that smoking weed leads to abusing harder drugs like cocaine, meth — or opioids, despite scare campaigns and fear-mongering from prohibitionists.

According to the naysaying Stanford examinations, the main reason why the first states to legalize medical marijuana also had fewer opioid-related deaths was mainly cause those states were more liberal, wealthier, and provided better access to health care (i.e., addiction treatment, naloxone to counteract overdoses, etc.).

 The Stanford researchers also concluded that since they utilized newer data going up to 2017 — after almost every US state had provided some medical cannabis program — their findings were more accurate.

 Since the earlier studies relied on data from when barely 13 to 17 US states had legal, medical cannabis.

The question of whether marijuana could become the new pain killer of the future and eliminate all prescription medication is still up in the air. However, studies like these only strengthen the possibilities. 

 

The Recover is an unbiased substance abuse and mental health news provider. Helping individuals looking for the right treatment programs in their area. Also providing information on drug rehab centers for addiction recovery.

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